Taif International Airport , formerly Taif Regional Airport, is an airport in Taif, Saudi Arabia. The airport is located 30 km to the east of Taif and 70 km from Mecca. The airport is considered important in Saudi aviation history as it witnessed the first landing of Ibn Saud's plane, founder of the Kingdom. It was converted to a regional airport in 2009 when GACA allowed international airlines to operate at the airport as the city's population was increasing and to reduce pressure on the three main airports at the time.