The passenger traffic at King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Saudi capital Riyadh has entirely rebounded to its pre-Covid levels with the commercial revenue figures in March topping those recorded in 2019, according to Riyadh Airports Company, the organisation responsible for the management and operation of KKIA.

Specifically, duty-free sales at the KKIA climbed substantially for the month with a growth rate of 62% compared to March 2019 (and a growth of 243% compared to March 2021), it stated.

Overall, this year’s March was the most successful month of duty-free sales ever recorded by KKIA, and the month contained the new highest and second highest sales days recorded so far, it added.

Other categories also performed strongly with F&B up 12%, Retail and Services 14% and car parking up by 29% March 2022, all compared to March 2019.

On the solid growth, Riyadh Airports Company CEO Engineer Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Maghlouth said: "I am delighted with the robust performance and full recovery at KKIA. This illustrates the underlying growth which we will continue to build progressively, as we work toward KSA’s Aviation Strategy and Vision 2030."

Adding to this, VP Operations Ayman Aboabah said: "The strength of passenger recovery in March is an excellent result, delivered as a product of our collective and coordinated efforts. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our stakeholders and partners, and build further on the excellent recovery as the year progresses."

Speaking on the tremendous rebound recorded at KKIA, Abdulaziz Al Asaker, Acting VP Commercial, said: "At KKIA, we are thrilled with these tremendous results and thank the efforts of our staff, commercial partners, and customers in helping us generate these industry leading results."

"Now that we are finally starting to see the regional travel market rebound, we are confident that these results are just the tip of the iceberg, and that we will see new records throughout the year. We can now continue to focus our efforts on transforming KKIA into a leading airport capable of rivalling the best in the world," he added.

Al Maghlouth said Riyadh Airports Company was currently under expansion, with the development of Terminals 3 and 4.

"The terminals have been designed to cater to the growing number of international events and activities planned for Riyadh as part of Saudi Arabia's 2030 vision, which seeks to expand the Kingdom’s tourism, transport, and aviation sectors," he added.

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