King Abdulaziz International Airport is an aviation facility located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It's IATA code is JED. Named after King Abdulaziz Al Saud ,who died in 1978, the airport is Saudi Arabia's largest air facility.

Construction for the airport began in 1974. It was finalized in 1980. Finally, on May 31, 1981, the airport opened for services.

Because of Jeddah's closeness to Makkah, the airport stands for one feature in particular: Terminal 3 is to be used only during the Hajj season, and it caters to Makkah bound passengers only. In addition to serving as a stop-over for many airlines around the world during the aforementioned season, the terminal also serves as a bus terminal, for those who cannot complete the entire trip to Makkah by air and have to use buses to get there instead because of economical reasons. Airlines that have used terminal 3, apart from those airlines from Islamic countries, include Air France and World Airways, the latter from the United States.

The north terminal is used by the various international airlines that fly into this airport. The south terminal is reserved for Saudi Arabian Airlines flights only. A substancial part of that airline's international and domestic operations fly from King Abdulaziz International Airport's south terminal.

Terminal 3, the one used by Muslim pilgrims, is estimated to be, at five million square feet (465,000 m²), the world's largest air terminal. It sits over 100 acres (405,000 m²) of ground area, and it is known for it's tent-shaped roof. Terminal 3's roof is not actually a tent, but a white colored fiberglass. This terminal has a mosque, and it can accomodate 80,000 travellers at the same time.

Writer R.E.G. Davies, who called Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport "The World's Most Beautiful Airport", compared King Abdulaziz International Airport to the latter airport architecture-wise.

For a long period, Trans World Airlines was the only American airline to offer services to this airport; as of 2005, no major American airline offers services to King Abdulaziz International Airport.

Airlines serving airport

North Terminal

• Air Algerie
• Air France
• Air India
• Air Mauritius
• Alitalia
• Biman Bangladesh
• British Airways
• Cameroon Airlines
• Cyprus Airways
• Daallo Airlines
• Egyptair
• Emirates
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Garuda Indonesia
• Gulf Air
• Iran Air
• Kenya Airways
• Kuwait Airways
• Libyan Arab Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Middle East Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Olympic Airways
• Oman Air
• Pakistan International Airlines
• Palestinian Airlines
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Brunei
• Royal Jordanian
• SIA Cargo
• Somali Airlines
• Sudan Airways
• Syrian Arab Airlines
• Turkish Airlines
• Tunisair
• Uzbekistan Airways
• Yemenia

South Terminal

• Saudi Arabian Airlines

Terminal 3

Many airlines from the world use this terminal on a charter service, apart from Saudi Arabian, during the Hajj season.

External link

Saudi Arabian Aviation Authority's official page on King Abdulaziz International Airport