Jeddah International Airport (closed 1981)

Jeddah International Airport, colloquially referred to as Abbas Ibn Firnas Airport, Jeddah Airport or Kandara Airport (IATA: JED, ICAO: OEJD) 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

Airport data from the OpenFlights open database.