Located in Dammam, in Saudi Arabia, The King Fahd International Airport (DMM) has an incredible surface that distinguishes it to be the airport largest in the world. Inaugurated in October 1999 extends for 776 square kilometers and its total area It is larger than some small countrieslike Bahrein. Bears the name of the fifth king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Fahd Bin Abdulaziz at Saud, and is themain hub of the country airlinesSama Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines.
It should be emphasized, however, that despite the vast total surfaceonly a fraction of it is currently used for airport operations in fact the area used it is about 3 675 hectares (36.75 km²), and the rest of the ground is reserved for future development and expansion projects. But why then is it so big? Its size derive from the fact that in the beginning the area was one United States aerial base, during the War of Gulf, And the size of the airport ground reflect not only its past military role but also its potential future use. In fact, its expansion has already been scheduled and inserted in Saudi Vision 2030the ambitious plan of the country to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil, developing the sectors of tourism, trade and logistics.
The numbers of the Mega Airport
DMM has two parallel tracks – 16L/34R And 16R/34L – Both lengthwise 4 000 meters separated from a distance of 2,146 meters, allowing their contemporary use. This slopes are long enough to house large planes, including the Boeing 747 And Airbus A340 And each is 60 meters wide.
The main terminal covers an area of 327 000 square meters, With 11 fixed boarding bridges and 15 gate. It is a six -level structure where the third floor is dedicated to arrivals, the fourth floor to the boarding and the sixth floor for departures, the rest are dedicated to services. To witness its size are a dedicated terminal for the Saudi Aramco, the Saudi National Company of Hydrocarbons, to transport employees to remote corporate offices, and a Royal Terminal, reserved for the Saudi royal family, to government staff and important state guests, who covers well 16 400 square meters.
Starting from 2023, the King Fahd international airport manages about 10.9 million passengers per year. However, thanks to its enormous earth’s surface, the future passengers will arrive Up to 25 million passengers per yearmaking it one of the busiest airports in the country.
The construction of the Kfia (DMM)
The whole world has participated in the construction of the mega airport: to plan and manage the construction of the mega airport was the American Bechtel To which the contract was given by the International Airports Projects division of the Ministry of Defense and Air Force from 1970 to 1999 for a contractual value of 1.4 billion dollars. There Gaca or the General Authority of Civil Aviation then appointed the Dutchman Netherlands Airport Consultants (Naco), an airport consultancy and engineering company, for the development of the general expansion plan of airport structures. Finally, the construction company Joanu & Paraskevaides based in Cyprus, it provided for the construction while the New Yorker Lera, Leslie E. Robertson Associates He took care of the structural design.
