LEONARDO, MAFA AND BELTCON TO DELIVER ADVANCED BAGGAGE HANDLING SYSTEM FOR PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN ABDULAZIZ INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TERMINAL 2

Leonardo, MAFA Co. Ltd. and BELTCON have been awarded the baggage handling system automation package contract for the new Terminal 2 expansion at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, operated by Tibah Airports Operation Company. The contract introduces Leonardo’s MBHS Cross-belt Sorter technology into the Kingdom for the first time, forming the heart of one of the region’s most advanced baggage handling solutions at an airport currently serving around eight million passengers a year, a figure that matches the airport’s own reported annual handling capacity. Leonardo will supply the MBHS Cross-belt Sorter together with its Sort Allocation Computer, providing baggage routing for departures, transfers and arrivals, while MAFA and BELTCON will handle engineering, system integration, manufacturing, installation, testing and commissioning. MAFA brings Saudi industrial capability and regional airport infrastructure experience, and BELTCON contributes German engineering expertise in conveyor and sortation technology.

TIMED TO A GROWING PILGRIM GATEWAY

Madinah’s airport is the Kingdom’s second-most important gateway for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims after Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, and the companies frame the project as supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 aviation growth objectives amid rising tourism, business travel and pilgrim traffic. Leonardo describes its MBHS technology, which uses linear motor propulsion, inductive power transmission and wireless communication, as already deployed at more than fifty airport projects worldwide and capable of handling irregularly shaped as well as conventional baggage. Site installation is scheduled to begin in January 2027, with final system commissioning expected by April 2027. Leonardo, which employs more than 62,000 people worldwide and reported 2025 revenues of 19.5 billion euros, describes the contract as its first entry for this specific sorting technology into the Saudi market.