New figures forecast 86.9 million passengers at Dubai Worldwide this 12 months. (File)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates:
Dubai is forging forward with plans to exchange the world’s busiest airport with an excellent larger one as passenger visitors recovers to outstrip pre-pandemic ranges, a prime official advised AFP on Wednesday.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths stated designs have been being drawn up for Al Maktoum Worldwide Airport, which might be constructed on the town’s outskirts and may substitute Dubai Worldwide within the 2030s.
He was talking on the Dubai Airshow within the United Arab Emirates, the place airways have invested closely in new planes. Final 12 months, neighbouring Saudi Arabia introduced plans for a serious new air hub in Riyadh.
“As soon as we have reached about 120 million (passengers a 12 months), which is what we expect our complete capability at DXB (Dubai Worldwide) is on the absolute most with every part optimised, we’re going to want a brand new airport,” Griffiths stated.
“That’s going to need to occur at some stage through the 2030s. We will be engaged on these designs over the subsequent few months.
“So the trajectory is nice. The arrogance within the business stays excessive.”
Griffiths was talking as new figures forecast 86.9 million passengers at Dubai Worldwide this 12 months, surpassing 2019 visitors and underlining the restoration from the pandemic.
Third-quarter visitors was 22.9 million, the very best since 2019, taking 2023 numbers up to now to 64.5 million, practically 40 % greater than the identical interval in 2022.
‘Little impression’ from Gaza struggle
Passenger numbers haven’t been affected by the Israel-Hamas struggle in Gaza, which is anticipated to hit regional economies and particularly tourism.
There was “very, little or no impression of visitors to the north”, Griffiths stated. “In actual fact, in some areas it is acquired even stronger than earlier than, so (there was) no impression that was discernible.”
He added: “We all the time knew when the pandemic struck, there’d be an equal and robust restoration as a result of individuals below lockdown for 2 years have been denied the flexibility to journey. And in order that’s why we have bounced again so shortly.”
Dubai airport closed briefly to industrial flights from March to July 2020 for the pandemic, however was one of many first journey hubs to reopen. In 2020, it acquired solely 25.9 million passengers, down from 86 million in 2019.
No price ticket or capability has been set for the brand new airport, Griffiths stated, including that it will be designed on a modular foundation quite than based mostly round terminals — that means it could simply broaden over time.
“It stands to purpose that Al Maktoum Worldwide needs to be even larger and even higher (than Dubai Worldwide),” he stated, calling it the “airport of the longer term”.
“This might be a undertaking that extends means into the 2050s, as a result of we take the long-term view right here.”
He added: “We aren’t planning an airport that has terminals. We will fully change the enterprise mannequin for airports, make them truly way more intimate and do away with all of the legacy processes that we have needed to topic our prospects to, for a lot too lengthy.”
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