Jeddah King Abdul Aziz International Airport

King Abdul Aziz International Airport (JED) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is one of the busiest and most significant airports in the Middle East. As the primary gateway for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims travelling to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the airport handles tens of millions of passengers annually, with demand peaking dramatically during the pilgrimage seasons.

The new terminal required a fully automated public address and voice announcement system capable of serving a high-volume, multilingual passenger base across all terminal areas. The operational scope demanded reliable automation for both routine boarding and deboarding flows, as well as religiously and culturally specific requirements unique to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Simpleway deployed its automated announcement platform throughout the new terminal, covering all areas relevant to the boarding and deboarding processes. To serve the airport's diverse international passenger base, a voice library in English and Arabic was produced and customized. Flexibility was a key design requirement: major airlines operating at the airport are able to use their own announcement scripts within the system, ensuring brand consistency for carriers while maintaining unified operational control for the airport. The Simpleway system was integrated with the PA infrastructure, enabling the software layer to drive announcements across the terminal's existing hardware environment.

A particularly significant element of the deployment is automated call to prayer announcements, delivered entirely without manual intervention. Given the volume and regularity of prayer times throughout the operational day, this feature directly reduces the burden on airport staff and ensures consistent, timely delivery of an announcement critical to the airport's daily rhythm. Combined with the automation of passenger-facing boarding and deboarding messages, the system substantially reduces reliance on manual PA operation across the terminal.

The result is a communications platform that simultaneously meets the needs of international airlines, individual passengers, and the operational and cultural obligations specific to one of the world's most important aviation hubs.

King Abdul Aziz International Airport is currently undergoing a major technology upgrade of its Simpleway system, scheduled for completion in 2026. This upgrade will ensure the platform continues to meet the airport's evolving operational demands and positions the deployment for long-term reliability at one of the world's most strategically important aviation gateways.