Almabani General Contractors, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest contractors backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has along with its consortium partners CarbonCure, a Canadian clean technology company, and Spanish builder FCC Construcción habe been awarded a major contract to supply lower carbon concrete for the massive King Salman International Airport (KSIA) project in Riyadh.
Airport Design
The Airport masterplan is designed by Foster + Partners. It positions itself as a central logistics hub linking Eastern and Western trade routes.
Upon completion, the 57-sq-km site will feature six parallel runways and multiple passenger terminals as well as other premium amenities.
Furthermore, the new airport will be able to handle up to 120 million travellers per annum by 2030. This is as part of a broader strategy to stimulate regional transport, trade and tourism.
A leading Saudi engineering and construction powerhouse, Almabani leverages its specialised concrete production plants to deliver mega-scale aviation, infrastructure and civil engineering projects across the Middle East.
For the King Salman International Airport project, the lower carbon concrete will be produced with CarbonCure’s carbon mineralisation technologies.
On the key project, CarbonCure stated that the sustainability targets embedded in the KSIA masterplan are among the most ambitious in the airport industry.
KSIA Aims for LEED Platinum Certification
“KSIA is targeting LEED Platinum certification, incorporating cutting-edge green initiatives that take into account both embodied and operational carbon, prioritiSing both renewable energy and lower carbon building materials,” remarked Dean Forgeron, the Chief Technology Officer at CarbonCure.
“Across the global concrete industry, CarbonCure is scaling an integrated, drop-in solution, offering concrete producers a suite of hardware, software and services to increase the cement efficiency of their concrete products, reduce their production costs and meet demand for green building materials without compromising performance,” stated Forgeron.
He was part of the Canadian delegation that flew along with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during his official visit to Saudi Arabia recently. It also included the Canadian Minister of Finance François-Philippe Champagne and Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand.
Speaking at the Saudi-Canada Business and Investment Forum in Jeddah, Carney lauded CarbonCure on its commercial deployment across Saudi Arabia and the procurement of its concrete for the massive aviation infrastructure project in the kingdom.
Hosted by Saudi Minister of Investment Fahad Al Saif, the Forum convened senior private sector and government leaders from both countries to advance bilateral trade and investment opportunities.
Furthermore, other than Saudi Arabia gearing up efforts to deliver world class airport infrastructure, the kingdom is also priortising the development of support infrastructure that will boost services delivery in the airports.
Project Factsheet
Project Name: King Salman International Airport (KSIA)
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Built around existing KKIA infrastructure)
Developing Entity: King Salman International Airport Development Company (KSIADC)
Primary Backer: Public Investment Fund (PIF) — Saudi Arabia Sovereign Wealth Fund
Total Land Area: 57 km² (22 sq miles)
Core Airport Footprint: 45 km²
Integrated Real Estate Zone: 12 km² (Logistics, residential, retail, and recreation)
Target Operational Date: Phase 1 opening targeted for 2030
Economic Impact: Expected annual contribution of SAR 27 Billion ($7.2B USD) to non-oil GDP
Job Creation: 103,000 direct and indirect jobs
Passenger and Cargo Scaling
- 2026 Target: Airport upgrades and temporary terminal expansions are lifting localized capacity from 42 million toward 56 million passengers annually.
- 2030 Target: 100 to 120 million passengers per annum.
- 2050 Target: 185 million passengers per annum.
- Cargo Capacity: Scaling to process 2.5 to 3.5 million tonnes of freight annually by mid-century.
Airside and Landside Assets
- Runways: Six parallel, high-capacity runways planned. The 4,200-meter Runway 3 entered active construction to enhance early operations up to 85 aircraft movements per hour.
- The “Wadi Loop”: A central green corridor designed by master architects to weave natural desert landscapes and Saudi cultural identity directly into the passenger journey.
- Connectivity: Fully integrated link into the Riyadh Metro network for rapid public transit.
Sustainability: Designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification, completely powered by renewable energy resources.
Project Team
Master Planner and Architect: Foster + Partners (UK)
Infrastructure Design Consultant: Jacobs Engineering (US)
Terminal Delivery Partner: Bechtel (US) was contracted for three major terminal assets including Terminal 6 and private aviation facilities.
Construction Program Management: Mace Group (UK)
Airspace Design and Traffic Management: Nera (Saudi Arabia)
Third Runway Joint Venture: FCC Construcción (Spain) & Al-Mabani General Contractors (Saudi Arabia). They are currently building the new 4.2km parallel runway designed to handle 85 aircraft movements hourly.
Terminal 6 Construction Consortiums (ECI Selection)
- UCC (Qatar) / CCC (Greece)
- Al-Gihaz Holding (Local) / TAV (Turkey) / WeBuild (Italy)
- Modern Building Leaders (MBL) / PowerChina (China)
Airfield Infrastructure, Taxiways & Apron (ECI Selection)
- Nesma and Partners / Limak / Samsung C&T / Alayuni Investment & Contracting (Saudi / Turkey / South Korea)
- Saudi Arabian Trading & Construction Company / Top International Engineering Corporation (Saudi / China)
- Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting Company / IC Ictas (Saudi / Turkey)
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