The King Salman International Airport, which was announced by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, was announced by Minister of Transport and Logistics Services Engineering Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, explaining the project, according to the official news agency, will play a significant role in enhancing the status of Saudi Arabia globally. According to him, this project will establish the importance of Saudi Arabia as a logistics hub between three continents and will support the national strategic goals of transportation and logistics services. Saudi Arabia already has the world's largest airport in terms of area, and it is the Shah Fahd Airport in the oil-rich Dammam region of Saudi Arabia. The project announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is actually an expansion of the King Khalid International Airport in the capital Riyadh. But now it will be called King Salman International Airport. Observers say it is part of Saudi Arabia's larger Vision 2030 plan, under which Saudi Arabia is committed to weaning its economy from oil dependence.

What is the plan? 

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced the transformation of Riyadh Airport into a major aviation hub that will handle 120 million passengers annually. According to Saudi Arabia's official press agency SPA, this work will be completed by 2030. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has been entrusted with the responsibility of building this international airport. However, it has not been told how much the airport will cost to build. It is an important part of the government's strategy to become a transport and logistics hub by 2030 in the aviation sector. The airport will have at least six parallel runways from which aircraft will fly and by the year 2050, more than 180 million people will travel here annually. It is yet to be designed and will be worked on by Star Architects like Faster Partners. Saif Al Bahauddin, a senior partner at Foster Partners, said in a statement that the airport aims to make Riyadh a "hub of creativity and innovation," according to CNN. A plan to make it sustainable and viable that will use renewable energy. 

Plan to reduce dependence on the oil Economy 

Saudi Arabia is now investing trillions of dollars in its Vision 2030 to reduce its economy's dependence on oil. Prince Mohammed announced this vision in 2017, which also plans to build a new modern city. Under this, the construction of a modern type of city of the future called 'Neum' is going on towards the last part of the desert of Saudi Arabia towards the Red Sea. The $500 billion city is planned to be powered by flying taxis and robots for household chores and will house a million people. According to the official news agency, the airport project is part of the strategy to include Riyadh among the world's 10 largest economies by 2030. The goal is also to start international flights from here to 250 destinations. It is also claimed that about one hundred and three thousand people are getting direct and indirect employment from Shah Salman Airport. By 2050, the airport aims to handle 185 million passengers and process 3.5 million tonnes of cargo.