The most striking part of the drive from Riyadh Airport to the centre of the city is the towering presence of the King Abdullah Financial District. Completed in 2017, it is a cluster of 10 gleaming sky scrapers and houses the headquarters of the purse-holding Public Investment Fund.
The cost was an eye-watering £6.3bn – and word is that they plan to expand it to nine times its current size. The airport itself is earmarked for a vast PIF-funded extension. Six runways are planned. With no expense spared it will be one of the biggest in the world and plans to cater for 120 million passengers each year.