Jeddah-headquartered firm Modern Building Leaders has partnered with PowerChina and Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) to bid for a contract to develop the first phase of Terminal 6 and the Iconic Terminal at King Salman International airport (KSIA) in Riyadh.

The joint venture has appointed Beijing-headquartered China Architecture Design & Research Group as its lead consultant.

US-based firm Ghafari Associates is the constructability consultant, and French firm Artelia is the project management consultant.

UK-headquartered DG Jones & Partners is the cost management consultant, and US-based technology firm IBM is the integration consultant.

King Salman International Airport Development Company (KSIADC), which is backed by Saudi sovereign wealth vehicle the Public Investment Fund, plans to deliver the package on an early contractor involvement (ECI) basis.

The ECI process requires selected contractors to submit methodologies for the project and a design proposal.

In May, MEED reported that US firm Bechtel Corporation had been appointed as the delivery partner for the terminals at KSIA.

Bechtel will manage the delivery of three new terminals, including the terminal for commercial carriers, Terminal 6 for low-cost carriers and a new private aviation terminal with hangars.

This was followed by an announcement by another US-based firm, Parsons Corporation, confirming its appointment as the delivery partner for the airside and landside packages at KSIA.

In February, KSIADC had received prequalification statements from firms on 28 January for the terminal project package.

The client prequalified firms in September 2024 for the main engineering, procurement and construction packages; early and enabling works; specialist systems and integration; materials and equipment; engineering and design; professional services; health, safety, security, environment and wellbeing services; modular installation and prefabrication; environmental, social and governance services; local content; and other services.

The entire scheme is divided into eight assets. These are:

• Iconic Terminal
• Terminal 6
• Private aviation terminal
• Central runway and temporary apron
• Hangars
• Landside transport
• Cargo buildings
• Real estate

In August last year, KSIADC confirmed that it had signed up several architectural and design firms for the various elements of the project.

KSIADC said that UK-based Foster+Partners will design the airport’s masterplan, including the terminals, six runways and a multi-asset real estate area.

US-based engineering firm Jacobs will provide specialist consultancy services for the masterplan and the design of the new runways.

The client also confirmed the appointment of UK-based engineering firm Mace for the delivery partner role on the project.

The airspace design consultancy contract was awarded to local firm Nera.

Project scale

The project covers an area of about 57 square kilometres (sq km), allowing for six parallel runways, and will include the existing terminals at King Khalid International airport. It will also include 12 sq km of airport support facilities, residential and recreational facilities, retail outlets and other logistics real estate.

If the project is completed on time in 2030, it will become the world’s largest operating airport in terms of passenger capacity, according to UK analytics firm GlobalData.

The airport aims to accommodate up to 120 million passengers by 2030 and 185 million by 2050. The goal for cargo is to process 3.5 million tonnes a year by 2050.

Saudi Arabia plans to invest $100bn in its aviation sector. Riyadh’s Saudi Aviation Strategy, announced by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, aims to triple Saudi Arabia’s annual passenger traffic to 330 million travellers by 2030.

It also aims to increase air cargo traffic to 4.5 million tonnes and raise the country’s total air connections to more than 250 destinations.