Thursday, October 25, 2007
Flight To The
Future: Mother Of All Airports
This airport will accommodate 120
million passengers a year. People are working day and night to finish the
project. Abdullah Ahmad Al Falasi, Marketing Director, Dubai World Central
By
Derek Baldwin
United Arab Emirates - Xpress
The sheer scale of Dubai’s plan to build the
largest airport in the world didn’t go unnoticed by more than 1,000 delegates
attending a freight conference this week in the city.
Shaikh Ahmad Bin
Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and CEO of Emirates airline and Group, and Chairman
of Dubai World Central and the Dubai Civil Aviation Corporation, told delegates
at the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association (FIATA)
conference that Dubai will be the hub of cargo movement in years to
come.
Countless pieces of heavy equipment are now scraping the desert
flat to construct the largest airport in the world.
To the groans of
engines and clanking of metal shovels, 140-square kilometres of desert at Jebel
Ali are being graded to make way for a proposed Dh100-billion, six-runway
project that promises to make Dubai an international hub of business for the
Middle East.
"This will help the business grow from cargo and passengers
to tourism," said Abdullah Ahmad Al Falasi, marketing director of Dubai World
Central, the airport and residential project located just south of Jebel Ali
port.
The vision will, he said, link the Jebel Ali port, ranked ninth in
the world, with the largest airport in the world.
And with work on the
first 4.5-kilometre long runway nearing completion, it will be only a matter of
time before the largest international airport ever constructed on the planet
begins supplying two billion people living in all major centres within four
hours flying time of Dubai with everything from soup to nuts.
The sheer
enormity of the airport’s capacity when finished is staggering, he said in an
interview at the FIATA conference this week at Grand Hyatt Hotel in
Dubai.
"The cargo terminals - 16 when completed - will accommodate 12
million tonnes of cargo a year," Al Falasi said.
Freight containers will
be shipped from the Jebel Ali Port 10km away and will arrive at the airport
within one hour for shipment by air abroad, he said.
The first runway is
being constructed to meet the needs of the new A-380 (Emirates has ordered 45 of
the new air giants from Airbus).
The aircraft will be guided safely to
terminals from another first – a 92-metre high control tower.
The first
completed section of the airport will become known as Dubai World Central
Logistics City and will ultimately process 12 million tonnes of air cargo every
year through a series of 16 air cargo terminals.
Al Falasi said the scope
of the first phase alone is enormous. "This runway on its own is larger than all
of Dubai International Airport," he said. "Eventually, this airport will
accommodate 120 million passengers a year.
"People are working day and
night to finish the project."
An estimated 5,000 workers are bringing
phase one together while an estimated 30,000 workers will work on the site over
the life of the project.
Control Tower
The first of the two
tallest air traffic control towers in the Middle East is on track for completion
in the new year at the new Dubai World Central International Airport, say
officials.
At a cost of $39 million (Dh143 million), the first
free-standing tower is about two-thirds complete and will stand 92 metres in
height.
Abdullah Al Falasi, Marketing Director for Dubai World Central,
said the concrete-poured structure will be ready in time for the first runway to
be operational.
"We’re about 70 per cent complete," said Al Falasi. "The
first tower will be responsible for all planes flying in and out of the airport.
The second tower will look after ground control."
Al Falasi said the
tower under construction is the tallest in the Middle
East.