Jeddah International Airport, colloquially referred to as Abbas Ibn Firnas Airport, Jeddah Airport or Kandara Airport was a major international airport in Saudi Arabia located between the neighbourhoods of Al-Kandara and Al-Sharafiya, Jeddah. It was the principal airport serving the cities Jeddah and Mecca in the kingdom before the construction of King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA). The airport was the first to handle commercial civilian flights in the kingdom, expanding to become a major gateway into Mecca. Throughout operation, it served pilgrims during Haji seasons while also handling regular scheduled flights. Jeddah Air Base shared runways with the airport, and served as a primary Royal Saudi Air Force base.

The history of Jeddah Airport began in 1921 as Kandara Aerodrome, later evolving into Jeddah Air Base. The first civil aviation operations commenced in 1945, and it was formally inaugurated as an airport in 1952. By the 1950s, air travel to Mecca for Hajj pilgrims became popular. The significant urban growth of Jeddah by the 1970s made it unfeasible to expand and cater the traffic, leading to the development of KAIA. Throughout its history, it had three asphalt runways and one concrete runway. Commercial operations at Jeddah International Airport ceased in May 1981, and the transfer of equipment was finalised in 1983.

Following the end of transfer, Royal Orders were issued to appropriate portions of the former airport in stages. This allowed the construction of a medical city, malls, and residential areas. This area formed the Old Airport District, supported by two major roads that were built over the two former highways. Today, much of the former airport remains undeveloped, although the hajj accommodations, some hangars and terminals have since been demolished.

History Beginnings of civil aviation Although the landing ground itself was established in 1921 to support the early Hejaz Air Force, civil aviation began during the mid-1940s. In May 1945, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gifted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a Douglas DC-3, which later landed at Kandara Aerodrome. Following the donation, several earthen airstrips were established around Saudi Arabia. These airstrips were constructed in Jeddah, Riyadh, Dhahran and Hawiyah in Taif, Hofuf, Buraidah, Jizan, Al-Kharj and Afif. An important moment was marked, when in June 1945, the kingdom's first international flight was made from Jeddah to Damascus. On 31 July 1945, British Overseas Airways Corporation began including Jeddah along its route, and is among the first airlines to serve the airport. It provided two weekly services to various destinations in Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kamaran in Yemen using the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar. In September 1945, Saudi Arabian Airlines (now known as Saudia) was established, and by 1946, became a fully government agency of the Ministry of Defense. Its operating base was located in Jeddah Airport. Throughout the 1940s, Jeddah Airport had minimal facilities; only served by a basic sand-packed strip where camels commonly intruded onto the runway, and no airport buildings existed at the time. There were no regular passenger services, and flights would have to be manually arranged. The airport saw occasional visits by British aircraft from Aden and aircraft from the United States carrying hitchhiking passengers. During this time, the airport mainly served diplomatic missions from government officials and the Royal family. The airline also flew mail between Jeddah, Taif and Riyadh. In 1947, an Airwork Services mission arrived in Jeddah Airport to establish and facilitate early civil aviation training and maintenance. The first ten student pilots were enrolled, and completed their initial training by August 1949.

By the 1950s, air travel to Mecca quickly became popular, because of how it was time sufficient and required less walking. On average, Jeddah Airport would see 250,000 pilgrims commute through the airport, and the usage of ox-carts, walking, and camels quickly lost popularity. As a result in 1952, a main and a crosswind runway, and an apron, all asphalt, were constructed at Jeddah Airport in preparation for the formal inauguration of the civilian and military components. The main asphalt runway measured long and wide capable of handling up to . The smaller crosswind runway measured long and wide. In the airport were facilities that included four steel hangars, maintenance workshops, and a fuel storage capacity of approximately of Avgas.

On 14 October 1952, Jeddah Airport and its facilities were officially inaugurated and opened under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Abdulaziz. Following the opening, Misrair opened a route to Jeddah Airport using an aircraft named The Flying Greek, weekly every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. It also had a travel agency, Hussein Al-Aouini & Co., based in Jeddah. On the military side of the airport, the Royal Saudi Air Force inaugurated its base on 5 November 1952. By 6 November 1952, the airport had developed a significant amount of maintenance facilities. It had a maintenance records office that kept aircraft reports and maintenance logs under the supervision of the Head of Maintenance, operations & flight planning section which sent telegrams regarding airspace and recorded aircraft movements, and a fire department section equipped with two fire engines and firefighting equipment. The airport also consisted of many workshops, which included an engine overhaul workshop where aircraft engines were inspected, tested and refitted after returning from overhaul in England and Scotland, and an electrical workshop supervised by foreign technical specialists trained in Dhahran and the United States, and operated by Egyptian and Saudi mechanics. Workshops involving aircraft components were also present, including a metal workshop responsible for manufacturing metal aircraft components such as copper parts and also repairing engine covers, propeller workshop which handled reinstallation of propellers, and a fabric workshop responsible for fabric-covered and interior aircraft components. Other workshops included a paint workshop responsible for overhauling aircraft instruments and gauges supervised by a Norwegian specialist assisted by Egyptian and Saudi mechanics, and finally a carpentry workshop for interior woodwork. Hangar No. 2 was also fitted with a hydraulic system, where Cessna aircraft were lifted for inspection and testing.

In 1953, a civilian air traffic control tower was built at Jeddah Airport, becoming the country's first. In the event of an emergency that involved the United States, American McDonnell F-101 Voodoo fighter jets and the Martin B-57C Canberra were to operate from the airport. Additionally, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster and Douglas C-124 Globemaster II aircraft would also be used for military cargo operations. Beginning in 1956, frequent economic crises resulted with strict austerity measures. Major expansions and upgrades to the airport slowed down, though small extensions of the parallel taxiway and apron still occurred. In 1959, the Saudia Pilot Training Institute was established in the airport. Its aviation training facilities were modest at best, it being housed within a small building. Baha Aldeen Asad served as the principal and Captain Norm Doerr was appointed as the American supervisor for the school. It had a flight instructor, photographer, student supervisors, and usually taught a small group of 14 students selected from 20 applicants. Additionally, the school had a small canteen, which would serve coffee and doughnuts for the students. The trainees received a salary of 600 riyals a month, and were taught English before advancing to higher forms of training. Often, the course would last a year and concluded with a short flight.

Accommodations for the Haji

Before the 1950s, arriving Hajj pilgrims often stayed in rental residential houses. In 1950, a 5,000 person facility near the seaport was built, and in 1953-54, a 2,000 person facility was constructed south of the city. In 1958, the Al Ain Azizia administration rushed the construction of the third city, which was made to accommodate the rising number of African hajj pilgrims. The third city was located in the airport, beside the air traffic control tower and hangars. Following the decision, five buildings with three floors at an estimated area of were built, which could accommodate 2,000 pilgrims. This project also included the construction of Pilgrim's Town Square, the entrance to the accommodations and airport. From day and night, hundreds of pilgrims of diverse ethnicities passed through these accommodations.

The dormitories housed 10-36 people per room, accommodated with communal bathrooms. These buildings were designed to minimize social distinctions, and open-air latticework allowed airflow and sound circulation. Large undivided balconies were also built, which encouraged social interaction. There also was a simple, repetitive architecture which reflected the unity of the Haji, which emphasized the egalitarian spirit of pilgrimage. These pilgrims could stay days within the accommodations until departure to Mecca, which had offices for pilgrimage guides, health, and passport services. Shops, restaurants, banks, a mosque, and government agencies were also serviced within the compound.

In 1959, the administration granted an adjacent plot of land to establish a secondary building, though it was not directly part of the five buildings. It was located at the curve of Palace-Airport Road (King Fahd Road), serving as the headquarters for the Aziziyah Spring Waqf. Baggage processing would also be carried out from the building for departing Indonesian and Malaysian pilgrims.

Growth

Al-Kandara, the neighbouring district of the airport, gained popularity due to its proximity to the airport and seaport. It was considered the capital of Jeddah, having hospital, administrative, and accommodation facilities. In early 1959, Saudi Arabian Airlines inaugurated a daily pressurized Convair-Liner shuttle between Jeddah and Riyadh. Later that year, the airline established its Technical Services Division, and a double-bay hangar was subsequently built to house the division. The hangar was retrospectively capable of handling the B707-200. Throughout the 1960s, the number of international pilgrims arriving by air instead of sea had significantly increased. For example, approximately 1,000 Indian pilgrims arrived annually to Jeddah by Air-India’s chartered flights, while around 14,500 still arrived by sea from Bombay. The chartering of these flights were managed by the Haj Committee, under the company Trade Wings. In September 1961, support facilities and a hangar were erected at the airport's RSAF complex, completed in December 1962. A concrete extension to the apron was also done under the project. In 1964, when King Faisal bin Abdulaziz began his rule, the expansion and growth of Jeddah resumed at a more controlled pace. That year, an asphalt runway was built parallel to runway 15/33, apart and numbered 15R/33L. The new runway offloaded pressure on the existing runway, and allowed the decommissioning of the crosswind runway to expand the apron. At the time, the crosswind runway's approach interfered with the growth of the Al-Kandara neighbourhood. Additionally, the control tower was expanded to two floors, and the tower height was increased. In 1965-66, two buildings were built to house Saudi Arabian Airlines' cargo offices and also to handle pilgrim repatriation operations. Four departure halls, a commercial market, and another large shelter were also added. In 1968, heavy rainfall led to a flood in Jeddah, which came from valleys east from the city, damaging the walls of the airport.