Concourse A – the world’s first purpose-built A380 facility – provides much-needed space, boosting the airport’s capacity from 60 million to 75 million passengers per year.
Aviation is fundamental to the ongoing prosperity and economic expansion of Dubai. Dubai International Airport saw throughput rise +13.2% to 57.6 million in 2012, and traffic is forecast to reach 65.4 million in 2013. Jeff Gould, Vice President of Dubai Airport Developments, believes that Dubai International will become the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic in only two years time: “The continued developing of DXB is intrinsically linked to this goal. We’re well on track to meeting that goal, but quite simply we can’t keep that up if we don’t have the capacity for the traffic.”
Concourse A provides much-needed space, boosting the airport’s capacity from 60 million to 75 million passengers per year. It is also a vital part of Dubai Airports’ $7.8 billion (€6bn) Strategic Plan 2020, which will increase airport capacity to 90 million by 2018. Gould explained that the $3.2 billion (€2.4bn) Concourse A is the only concourse in the world with a two-storey business and first class lounge setup. It will be used exclusively by Emirates Airline.
“We have a very close working relationship with Emirates Airlines,” Gould commented. “The decision to dedicate a facility almost made itself. Emirates is growing so quickly and aggressively, as are we. From a customer perspective, it’s great to be able to offer a custom concourse for such a popular aircraft – there are 30 in service now with another 90 on order.”
Terminal 1 renovation
Concourse A is not all that’s new at the airport though. Terminal 1 is the airport’s largest terminal, with an annual capacity of 20 million passengers per year and over 90 airlines operating out of it. Renovation work at the terminal has now finished. Gould said: “We have to maintain the level of service our customers expect. We decided to upgrade not because it made for a nice luxury, but because we saw it as an absolute necessity. As far as the passenger is concerned, it’s all about working towards efficient service. It may not all be visible, with a lot of back-of-house work, but all the renovation is with consistent levels of service in mind.”
When the plans for work on Terminal 1 were announced, Dubai Airports made much of its upgrades to baggage screening, check-in and baggage handling. “It’s essentially a higher-tech solution,” Gould explained. “It reduces the level of manual sortation, ensures consistency, the desks are redesigned, the signing is optimised. It’s all about streamlining the process.”
With such consistent growth, passenger safety is something that must be constantly re-evaluated. “We’ve looked closely at traffic flows and had analytical traffic studies conducted. We’ve reconfigured and realigned roads and routes into the airport for cars and public transport. Simply by remodelling the existing real estate we can make a safer, more efficient route both into and through the airport. Efficiency really is the key,” commented Gould.
The rapid expansion does pose challenges. How does such a busy hub build to accommodate growth without disrupting normal airport operations? “We’re obviously delighted with the traffic figures,” Gould said. “But we have to deliver capacity very quickly. We’re looking at a slightly simplified method of delivering infrastructure from now on. Methods of construction are now more modularised, or developed offsite.
“We’re building in an extremely constrained environment. Concourse A was the last of the ‘Greenfield builds’ at the airport. From now on, everything has to take place in a live operational environment. That’s impacted the way we look at development tremendously. In terms of technology? We’re looking at anything that can speed things up.”
The construction Gould refers to is that of the work-in-progress Concourse D. Still early in its development and scheduled for opening in 2015, the concourse will be home to even more concessions, as well as housing 100 international airlines.
Dubai Airports is putting in place the infrastructure and long-term processes designed to meet its aim of making Dubai International the best airport in the world. The impressive developments will enable the airport to handle the forecast growth and capitalise on Dubai’s attractiveness as a business and leisure destination.
