Travel boost: Jazan, Abha, Arar to get new airports

January 16, 2015

Jeddah, Jan 16: The General Authority of Civil Aviation will build three new airports in Jazan, Abha and Arar this year as part of efforts to meet the demand of growing passenger traffic.

This has been revealed by Prince Fahd bin Abdullah, president of GACA.

Speaking to reporters after inspecting progress of work at King Khaled International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh, he said 50 percent of work on the new terminal (No. 5) had been completed.

“The new terminal can handle 12 million passengers annually,” the prince said, adding that it covers 100,000 square meters.

“Once the ongoing expansion is completed, the KKIA will be able to handle a total of 36 million passengers annually, three times more than the current capacity,” the GACA chief said.

He said the second phase of the expansion project would further increase the KKIA’s capacity to 47.5 million passengers. Prince Fahd also spoke about efforts to privatize major international airports, beginning from the KKIA.

Speaking about the operation of domestic service by new private airlines, he said they needed to complete certain procedures, required in any developed country.

Efforts are under way to expand the capacity of Terminal 3 and 4 of the KKIA to 18 million passengers with 23 gates. These terminals will serve 38 aircraft of varying sizes.

They will also have 130 passenger counters and 30 for self-service, 36 immigration counters, six e-gates and a baggage zone with 10 belts.

The Terminal No. 5 will have eight dual air bridges to board 16 aircraft at a time.

It will have 60 passenger counters, 20 self-service counters, 28 immigration counters and 30 immigration counters for arrivals.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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