"Dubai will build a six-runway airport"

Monday, February 7, 2005

Dubai will build a six-runway airport
United Kingdom - The Economist


Dubai has announced plans to build a vast second airport. Dubai
International Airport City will have six runways and the capacity to handle
120m passengers a year. The project had been planned for several years, with
land earmarked close to the successful Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone, but
work was not due to start for another decade. However, rapid growth in
passenger and cargo traffic at the existing Dubai International Airport
prompted the government to bring forward plans for the project. In 2004
passenger traffic at the existing Dubai International Airport, which is
already undergoing a US$4.1bn expansion, rose by 20% to 21m people,
according to official figures from the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation
(DCA). No timetable has been announced for completion of the new airport,
but work will begin in February 2005 on the first phase, at a cost of
US$547m. It is unclear how the airport will be financed, but in the past DCA
and Emirates Airlines--which are both led by a prominent ruling family
member, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum--have used syndicated loans and
bonds to finance expansion. Emirates has announced that it will be one of
the first airlines to list a bond on the forthcoming Dubai International
Financial Exchange.


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