Departure
99%
vs 95% ▲ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
King Abdulaziz Air Base, known historically as Dhahran Air Base and Dhahran International Airport, is a Royal Saudi Air Force installation at Dhahran in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It offers three exceptionally long, hard-surfaced runway pairs, two of them equipped with ILS, a legacy of its decades as one of the Gulf's principal international gateways before reverting to exclusively military use. For the simulator pilot it is a striking study in Cold War-era airfield engineering, though the base is not open to civil or public flying.
King Abdulaziz Air Base sits at Dhahran in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province and is operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force under the Ministry of Defense. It began life as an American-built military airfield in the 1940s, later became one of the country's busiest commercial airports, and today functions purely as a military base hosting several RSAF squadrons. For a simulator pilot the appeal lies in its unusually long parallel runways, ILS-equipped approaches and layered history spanning USAF operations, commercial airline service, and current air force use.
The base lies in Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, west of the town of Thuqbah and about 7 km southeast of the Saudi Aramco Dhahran Camp. King Fahd International Airport lies further north and took over the region's commercial air traffic when this field reverted to military use. As an active Royal Saudi Air Force base, the surrounding airspace is restricted and the field is not open to public or civil traffic.
The airfield has three physical runway pairs. The main pair, 16R/34L, is 11,980 feet of lit hard surface equipped with ILS. Alongside it, 16L/34R offers a near-identical length of roughly 11,800 feet, also lit hard surface with ILS. A shorter crosswind pair, 06/24, runs to about 9,130 to 9,150 feet of lit hard surface without ILS. Field elevation is 82 feet.
Published frequencies at the field include ATIS on 117.2 MHz, Tower on 118.2 MHz, Ground on 121.6 MHz, Approach on 125.4 MHz, Clearance Delivery on 126.3 MHz and an Airfield Control Point on 127.9 MHz, alongside military-specific channels including SOF OPS on 30.165 MHz, PMSV (meteorological service) on 25.99 MHz and a miscellaneous frequency on 28.03 MHz. Two of the three runway pairs, 16R/34L and 16L/34R, are equipped with ILS.
The site was first developed as Dhahran Airfield, built and operated by the United States Air Force from 1945 following the wartime Dhahran Air Field Agreement between the United States and Saudi Arabia, part of a broader American logistical and diplomatic presence tied to the growing strategic and economic importance of the region. Ownership reverted to Saudi Arabia in 1948, with the United States continuing to operate under renewed leases, an arrangement extended again in 1951. USAF use continued until 1962, after which the airfield was converted for commercial service and became Dhahran International Airport, sharing its runways with the Royal Saudi Air Force's King Abdulaziz Air Base. During this commercial era, from 1962 to 1999, it was one of Saudi Arabia's busiest passenger airports and was commemorated on Saudi banknote designs. Commercial operations ended in 1999 following the opening of King Fahd International Airport further north, at which point the field was renamed King Abdulaziz Air Base and reverted fully to military use under the Royal Saudi Air Force.
King Abdulaziz Air Base is an active Royal Saudi Air Force installation and is not open to the public. It is home to several RSAF squadrons, including No. 13, No. 92, No. 44, No. 7, No. 35, No. 75 and No. 83 Squadrons. As a restricted military base, prior permission is required for any flight operation, and no civil facilities, fuel or public access are available.