GACA is preparing a tender and will ask consortia of international and local companies to bid to develop the airport, and aims to award a contract in the first half of 2015, spokesman Khaled Al-Khaibani.
He said it will be developed on a build-operate-transfer basis, in which a developer finances the construction and recoups its investment by operating the airport.
The airport will serve visitors for the annual Haj, as well as Umrah, a pilgrimage to Makkah which can be performed at any time of year.
GACA's board approved the project last Wednesday and is working with the International Financing Corporation, the consulting wing of the World Bank, to help prepare the tender, the spokesman said.
Most of the several million Haj pilgrims coming from abroad each year now arrive at a special terminal in Jeddah's international airport, but others fly into Madinah.
The existing airport at Taif serves domestic flights.
Taif is a city in the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia at an elevation of 1,879 m (6,165 ft) on the slopes of the Sarawat Mountains (Al-Sarawat Mountains). It has a population of 521,273 (2004 census).
Each summer the Saudi Government moves from the heat of Riyadh to Ta'if. The city is the centre of an agricultural area known for its grapes, pomegranate, figs, roses and honey.
Source: Reuters; Wikipedia
