Neom Inaugurates Region's First 5G-Supported Airport

Neom Bay Airport (Photo Credit: Asharq Al-Awsat)
Neom Bay Airport (Photo Credit: Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Neom Inaugurates Region's First 5G-Supported Airport

Neom Bay Airport (Photo Credit: Asharq Al-Awsat)
Neom Bay Airport (Photo Credit: Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s cross-border futuristic city Neom, located in the northwestern province of Tabuk, has taken a major step in its journey towards tomorrow with its airport operating 5G network technology, the first application regionally, before launching its opening flights on Sunday.

On its official Twitter account, the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said NEOM Bay Airport is the first 5G-supported airport in the region.

The Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), for its part, on June 25 inaugurated NEOM Bay Airport in the northern region of Sharma. GACA said that the airport was licensed and the first phase of development work was completed.

In a statement, the authority said that the airport has been licensed and is ready to receive commercial flights starting next week, after the first phase of development work was completed and was registered by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) earlier with the code “NUM.”

At present, Neom Bay Airport will conduct regular flights to investors and employees of the Neom project.

In October 2017, the $500 billion NEOM project was launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. NEOM is planned to be a business and industrial zone that also links with Jordan and Egypt.

Telecommunications expert Abdulrahman Al-Mazi reaffirmed that having 5G network technologies at the airport will provide unmatched internet speeds, 10 fold of pre-existing speed rates.

The broadband access provider will not only be linked to gates at terminals, direction board signs, on-site self-driving vehicles.

Mazi, in a phone interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, also clarified that airport operating systems will be equipped with Internet of Things (IoT), the extension of Internet connectivity into physical devices and everyday objects, giving it the capabilities of a high-efficiency communication.

5G technology will allow artificial intelligence to guide passengers around, lead functions of robotic cars and facilitate loading cargo, Mazi explained, adding that it also serves long-term strategic goals.



Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen's Houthi-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel.
Thursday’s strikes risk further escalating conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis, whose attacks on the Red Sea corridor have drastically impacted global shipping. The militants have so far avoided the same level of intense military strikes that have targeted the Palestinian Hamas militant group and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, fellow members of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance.”
The Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah said that some of the strikes targeted power stations in the capital, as well as the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea. The channel, citing its correspondent in the port city of Hodeidah, said at least seven people had been killed at the nearby port of Salif, while another two had been killed at the Ras Isa oil terminal.
Others suffered wounds at the Hodeidah port as well, it said.
An Israeli military statement offered no specifics on the targets hit, nor any damage assessment.
“The targets struck by the (Israeli military) were used by the Houthi forces for military purposes,” the statement said. “The strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region.”
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said the strikes hit energy and port infrastructure, which he alleged the militants “have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military action.”
“Israel will not hesitate to act in order to defend itself and its citizens from the Houthi attacks,” Hagari said.
Houthi-held Hodeidah, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Sanaa, has been key for food shipments into Yemen as its decades long war has gone on. There's also longstanding suspicion that weapons from Iran have been transferred through the port.
The strikes happened just after the Israeli military said its air force intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it entered the country’s territory.
“Rocket and missile sirens were sounded following the possibility of falling debris from the interception,” the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded near Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas, and a large explosion was heard overhead at the time. The Houthis did not immediately claim the missile attack, but said an important military statement would be issued in the coming hours, following a pattern of how they claim their assaults.
Israel previously struck Hodeidah and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeidah again, killing at least four people after a militant missile targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back to the country.
American forces have also launched a series of strikes on the Houthis over nearly a year due to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor. On Monday, the US military's Central Command said it hit “a key command-and-control facility" operated by the Houthis in Sanaa, later identified as the al-Ardi complex once home to the government's Defense Ministry.
But Israel appears to have carried out Thursday's strikes alone. A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the attacks, said America had no part in them.
The Houthis have targeted some 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel's grinding offensive in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say.
The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The Houthis maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.