Getting from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport to the city

The railway is not here

• The Haramain High Speed Railway has five stations: Makkah, Jeddah, King Abdulaziz International Airport, King Abdullah Economic City and Madinah. King Abdulaziz in Jeddah is the only airport on the line.
• Madinah's Haramain station is a city terminal, not an airport link, and nothing at Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz connects to it. If you have seen the airport described as having high-speed rail, that is Jeddah's arrangement being transplanted.
• The airport says its own drive into the city centre takes about 30 minutes.

A fixed taxi tariff that disagrees with itself

• The airport publishes a fare board by district, in multiples of 5 riyals, with one column for five passengers and one for seven.
• Central Haram area and surroundings, 20 km: SAR 75 for five, SAR 90 for seven. King Fahad Hospital and Al Naseem, 19 km: SAR 50 and 70. Al Khalil, Al Jurf, Taibah University and the Islamic University, 21 km: SAR 65 and 80. Eastern Harrah and King Abdulaziz Street, 10.5 km: SAR 55 and 70. Quba, Al Hizam, Al Awali and Qurban, 18.5 km: SAR 60 and 75. Airport Road and Health Affairs, 9 km: SAR 50 and 65. Abyar Ali and Saudi German Hospital, 30 km: SAR 40 and 60.
• Two rows of the same table read "Ohud Hospital / Al Aziziyah, 26 km", one at SAR 60 and 75 and the other at SAR 40 and 60. That is not a transcription error at this end; the airport's own table carries both. Ask which figure applies before you get in, and note the cheaper row when you do.
• The ordering is odd in the same way elsewhere: Abyar Ali at 30 km is cheaper than Airport Road at 9 km. Treat the board as a list of negotiated prices per district rather than a distance tariff.
• "Please use only licensed taxis and limousine services. Avoid dealing with unauthorised private vehicles." The operators the airport pictures on that page are Imtiaz Taibah, SATCO, Lemo Safwa and Al Safi Taxi. The rank is at the Main Terminal.

Apps, and the bus that is announced but not described

• Careem works here and the airport gives it its own page: a chauffeur-driven car booked in the app. Uber also lists Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED) among the airports it serves.
• The airport's transport overview advertises "Shuttle Buses: a shuttle service connecting Madinah Airport to the Prophet's Mosque". The page behind that tile is empty, in English and in Arabic. No timetable, no fare, no stop. Nobody publishes it officially, and this page will not invent it.
• The city network is SAPTCO's Madinah Bus: five main routes, 116 stops, 06:00 to 22:00 daily. Sixteen hours a day, which rules it out for the overnight Umrah arrivals that make up much of this airport's traffic.

Parking

• Short term SAR 10 per hour, long term SAR 8 per hour, VAT included. Bus parking SAR 15, rising to SAR 30 from the second hour.
• No free grace period is published, so the first hour is chargeable even for a drop-off.
• The car parks hold about 2,000 cars, are a short walk from the terminal, and are attended 24/7. Payment is contactless, cash or card.
• Subscriptions are sold at the Tibah Carpark Management office, in the corridor leading to the Hajj Plaza. The quarterly subscription for airport employees is SAR 570.