King Fahd International Airport Dammam (DMM)
The only commercial airport in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, and the largest airport on earth by land area.
King Fahd International Airport at a glance
Known as Dammam Airport, King Fahd Airport and KFIA, the airport sits 37.2 km northwest of central Dammam and serves Al Khobar, Dhahran, Al Qatif, Al Jubail and Al Ahsa as well. It is owned by the General Authority of Civil Aviation and run by Dammam Airports Company. Its 776 square kilometres of land make it larger than the whole of Bahrain, though almost none of that ground is built on.
60 cities are reachable without a change of plane, from Riyadh and Dubai to London, Beijing and Kozhikode. Every one of them is listed with its airlines and flight time in the nonstop route table. Further down this page: terminals, parking, taxis, car hire and the road to Bahrain.
Car hire at Dammam Airport
The rental desks sit inside the terminal, and the international names are all represented. Booking ahead matters more here than at most airports, because the Eastern Province runs on business travel and fleets thin out midweek rather than at weekends. The rules catch people out more often than the price does: licence requirements differ by nationality, and most companies will not let their cars cross the causeway into Bahrain at all.
Suppliers, licence rules and what to checkTaxis and ride-hailing
Taxis work the kerb outside arrivals around the clock, and the fare is agreed at a desk before you travel rather than metered. Uber and Careem both operate here. SAPTCO buses run to Dammam and Al Khobar during the day, not hourly through the night, which is the gap that catches late arrivals.
Taxis, apps and busesParking
One covered three-storey car park of about 5,000 spaces attaches to the terminal by walkway, so there is no shuttle. It is charged by the hour with no published daily ceiling, which makes an afternoon cheap and a fortnight expensive. Work the sum before leaving a car for a long trip.
Rates and the long-stay sumDriving to Bahrain
Manama is 99.9 km away by road, with Saudi border control at 72.9 km of that, so most of the drive happens before the crossing begins. Both border posts are staffed around the clock. Most hire cars are not permitted to cross, which undoes a lot of plans.
Crossing the King Fahd CausewayBefore you fly in
- Most visitors need a Saudi visa arranged in advance, and the route to one differs by nationality.
- Saudi Arabia bans several items travellers carry freely elsewhere, and sets a threshold above which cash must be declared. Check the customs rules before packing.
- The duty free store trades on the arrivals side as well as departures, which is less common than it sounds.
- Four lounges sell access at the door, and a meet and greet service can be booked to shorten the walk through immigration.
- No hotel stands inside the airport yet, so an overnight means a short drive to the nearest ones.
Distances and routes
- To central Dammam
- 37.2 km, 30 to 45 minutes
- To the Saudi border control
- 72.9 km
- To Manama, Bahrain
- 99.9 km
- Busiest route
- Dubai, around seventy flights a week
- Shortest route
- Bahrain, fifty minutes in the air
The three terminals
Every scheduled flight uses the Main Terminal, a six-storey building of 327,000 square metres that holds domestic and international traffic under one roof, in separate halls rather than separate buildings. Free Wi-Fi covers it, prayer rooms sit on every level, and the mosque stands above the car park, reached by air-conditioned walkway.
The other two are closed to the public. Saudi Aramco flies its own staff from its own building to company sites at Yanbu, Tanajib and Shaybah, and the Royal Terminal serves the royal family and visiting heads of state.
Terminals, codes and facilitiesBeyond the airport
The Eastern Province is a working coastline rather than a resort one, and it rewards a day more than a week. The Corniche, King Fahd Park and Al Marjan Island are all inside half an hour, and Al Khobar has the restaurants.
The full site, with both runways and the apron layout, is on the airport map, which is worth a look purely for the scale of the empty ground around the terminal.
What to see in the Eastern ProvinceFrequently asked questions about Dammam Airport
Where is King Fahd International Airport?
It lies 37.2 km northwest of central Dammam in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, a drive of 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Older guides quote 20 km, which is shorter than the straight line between the two points and cannot be right.
Is KFIA the same as Dammam Airport?
Yes. King Fahd International Airport, KFIA, Dammam Airport, King Fahd Airport and DMM all name one airport. There is no second commercial airport at Dammam, so whichever name you were given, it is this one.
Which airport serves Al Khobar and Dhahran?
This one. King Fahd International is the only commercial airport in the Eastern Province, and it serves Al Khobar, Dhahran, Al Qatif, Al Jubail and Al Ahsa as well as Dammam itself. Dhahran’s older airfield no longer takes scheduled passenger flights.
Who runs King Fahd International Airport?
The General Authority of Civil Aviation owns it and Dammam Airports Company operates it. DACO has held the operating role since 2017, which is why its name appears on parking, retail and passenger notices around the building.
When did King Fahd International Airport open?
Commercial flights began in 1999. Construction had started in 1983, so the site stood for years before the first ticketed passenger walked through it, which is part of why the airport was planned on the scale it was.
Is it really the largest airport in the world?
By land area, yes, at 776 square kilometres. By passengers or terminal size it is nowhere near the top, so the record depends entirely on which measure is used, and most of that land carries nothing at all.