RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh scored highest with 82 percent compliance to operational standards in March, the latest data from the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation showed. Divided into three categories, GACA ranks airports based on their compliance to 14 operational criteria, including check-in, security, customs control, the waiting times for passengers, and the time spent in baggage handling, in accordance with international best practices. King Khalid airport, which has five terminals feeding 58 airlines to make 91,000 flights annually, claimed the top position for highest compliance to operational standards, in the category of international airports having the capacity to handle more than six million passengers annually. Saudi’s other airbase, the Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport, also known as Madinah Airport, has also claimed the highest position with 82 percent compliance to GACA’s set standards in March, under the same category. Those were followed by Saudi’s other two airports King Fahd International Airport in Dammam and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, with compliance rates of 64 percent and 55 percent, respectively. Whereas in the second category of international airports that has less than 6 million passengers capacity annually, Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk ranked first with a compliance rate of 100 percent. For domestic airports which fall under the third category, Turaif Airport scored 100 percent outperforming all other competing airports in total average waiting times for the departing and arriving flights. The report comes in line with the implementation of the strategic directions aimed at improving services provided to passengers and raising the level of service at the Kingdom’s airports.