Property in Dubai
Largest international airport in the world in progress
Dubai will unveil the first section of its new international airport in June, aiming to be the largest passenger and cargo hub in the world.
Al Maktoum International Airport will open a cargo terminal on 27th June with an initial capacity of 250,000 tonnes a year.
The Vice-President for Cargo and logistics at the Dubai World Central, Andrew Walsh, said that the terminal’s capacity will grow to 600,000 tons a year.
Dubai is in the process of expanding its airport capacity to grab a major share of global trade and tourism. The emirate is investing $33bn on Al Maktoum International expecting that its existing hub will not be able to cope with surging demand.
Walsh revealed that the first passenger terminal at Al Maktoum will be substantially incomplete in June, and will eventually have a capacity of 7million arrivals per year, although no date has been set for start of passenger flights.
The new airport, which is about 40kms away from the current one, will have five runways, four passenger terminals sufficient to accommodate 160mn arrivals a year and 180 cargo terminals with a capacity of 12million tons.
Dubai’s current airport, the Dubai International, received about 40.9mn passengers last year and is being expanded to include 75mn passengers by 2012. The emirate hopes to receive about 140mn arrivals a year by 2025.
Within a decade, Al Maktoum is likely to be the new hub for Emirates, the largest Arab airline.
Posted on 25/3/2010