King Khalid International Airport

King Khalid International Airport (IATA: RUH) is an international airport located thirty-five km northeast of the center of Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It covers an area of 375 km2 and is operated by the Riyadh Airports Company. The airport was established by a Royal Decree in 1983 and is one of three international airports in the Kingdom that are named after a Saudi king.

The first airport in Riyadh was founded in 1946, during the reign of the Founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. It had one royal lounge and one passenger terminal. As Riyadh City expanded, its residential areas encroached near the airport, leading to an increase in passenger numbers and airport congestion. This prompted the issuance of a Royal Decree on the establishment of King Khalid International Airport, which at the time became the world's largest airport.

King Khalid International Airport consists of five main terminals for domestic and international flights, located to the east of the airport. Facing them to the west is the Royal Terminal. To the south of the airport is the mosque, connected to it by a three hundred m bridge. In addition, there is a private aviation terminal and forty air bridges. The first and second terminals serve international destinations operated by various carriers, while the fifth terminal specializes in domestic flights provided by all airlines.

The airport is serviced by approximately fifty-one international and domestic airlines, transporting 28.5 million passengers annually on 217 thousand flights, with an average of twenty-five flights per hour.

The airport has parking spaces for over eleven thousand cars, branches of four banks, nineteen ATMs, and more than thirty restaurants and cafes to serve passengers and airport staff.

King Khalid International Airport was designed to reflect Arab and Islamic culture in its overall structure. Its facilities incorporate geometric formations of simple triangles, with a central axis featuring a hexagonal mosque building that can accommodate five thousand worshipers. The mosque is composed of two floors topped by a large circular dome, visible from all airport terminals. Inside the dome, there is a blue strip inscribed with the first seven verses from Surah al-Hadid in the Holy Quran. The airport control tower shares design characteristics with the mosque and reaches a height of eighty-one m, offering views of the areas surrounding the airport and glimpses of the Tuwaiq Mountains.

King Khalid International Airport has received several awards, including the Best Health Measures in the Middle East for 2020 by the Airports Council International. It has also received the World's Most Improved Airport Award for 2022.