He explained that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was one of the first Arab countries that participated in the establishment of the Arab Air Carriers Organization out of its vision and conviction that the air transport industry serves as the backbone of economic, social and cultural development in the Arab world, stressing the kingdom's keenness to keep pace with the latest advances in the air transport industry and the kingdom's comprehensive development in all fields. He said that according to the directions of the Kingdom's leadership, there are great efforts to modernize the infrastructure of the air transport system in the kingdom. There is a comprehensive program for the development of international, regional and domestic airports in the kingdom, for example, the completion of the new King Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, which aims to run direct international flights to Madinah, and serve 8 million passenger pilgrims and visitors in the first phase, with an expected increase to 18 million passengers in the second phase. In the context of these ongoing efforts, he also pointed out that the first phase of modernizing the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah will be soon completed to serve up to (40) million passengers. After that a ceremony was held on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the Arab Air Carries Organization. The meeting will continue its activities on Monday. --SPA 02:00 LOCAL TIME 23:00 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w