October 2014 | the gulf the gulf | October 201424 25
featurefeature AV I AT ION AV I AT I ON
Though upgrading
two mega-hubs intandem may seem an
excessively ambitious
task, there are some
symbiotic advantagesto the strategy
‘We are
building a
brand new
airport that
will not only
create the capacity we will
need, but also provide
facilities that revolutionise
the airport experience on
an unprecedented scale’
Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports
THINKING big has neverbeen a problem for the
rulers of Dubai. Back in2005, when fewer than 24million passengers used
Dubai International Airport (DXB),the emirate unveiled plans for a six-runway hub at Jebel Ali, southwest of
the city, that could handle up to 120million people each year. A sprawlingcomplex called Dubai World Central(DWC) was to be developed aroundthe airport, creating “the world’s first
purpose-built aerotropolis”.At the time, DXB did not even rank
among the top ten busiest interna-tional gateways on the planet. Dubai’svision of becoming the centrepiece
of global aviation was ridiculed insome corners as a delusion fuelledby free-flowing cash and unbridledGulf egos. For years to come, discus-sions about the project were taintedwith accusations of building a “white
elephant” in the desert.Today, however, with DXB on the
cusp of overtaking London HeathrowAirport as the largest internation-al gateway anywhere in the world,
the sceptics have fallen silent. DXBprocessed 66.4 million people in 2013;DWC’s newly re-named Al MaktoumInternational Airport is already accept-
ing passenger flights; and Dubai’srulers are once again upping the ante.Mindful that their traffic forecasts nolonger seem such a distant prospect,the latest annual capacity target has
risen from 160 to 200 million. Andit could stretch even further, to 240million.
“Our future lies at DWC. Theannouncement of this Dhs120 billion($32 billion) development of DWC is
both timely and a strong endorsementof Dubai’s aviation industry,” saidPaul Griffiths, chief executive of DubaiAirports, the owner and operator ofboth DXB and DWC, after Dubai’s
ruler Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid alMaktoum ratified the latest plans.
“With limited options for furthergrowth at Dubai International, we aretaking that next step to securing our
future by building a brand new airportthat will not only create the capacity wewill need in the coming decades, butalso provide state-of-the-art facilitiesthat revolutionise the airport experi-ence on an unprecedented scale.”
Dubai’s success stems from geograph-ical advantage and lacklustre competi-tion in Europe. Two thirds of the world’spopulation lives within eight hours’flying time of the Gulf, making it an
ideal location for the largest hub-and-spoke network on the planet. Factor inthe inability of European governmentsto develop their own airport infrastruc-
DUBAI
The creation of a massive new aviation hub at
Dubai World Central is, the developer says, set to
revolutionise the way passengers and freight move
Air travelreinvented
with an annual capacity of 120 millionand facilities to handle 100 double-decker Airbus A380s simultaneously.
Having previously erred on the sideof caution when setting deadlines,Dubai Airports has now accelerat-ed the completion of this phase to“between six and eight years”. That
timeframe coincides with projectedpassenger demand of 100 million atDXB, potentially enabling a wholesaleshift of operations by Emirates Airline,Dubai’s flag carrier, to DWC aroundthe turn of the decade.
In practice, however, Emirates islikely to stay put at DXB at least untilthe mid-2020s. The DWC project hasalready encountered numerous delays- construction work slowed after the
2008 global financial crisis, when theblueprint was scaled down from six tofive runways - and further obstaclesare all but guaranteed, being the norm
for large-scale infrastructure projects.Even once the satellite buildings arecompleted, shifting the flag carrier’s
entire operation will be a herculeantask that itself requires months ofplanning.
Expansion work therefore contin-ues apace at the existing DXB facility.
Under the Dubai Airports StrategicPlan 2020, Dhs28.8 billion is beinginvested to lift DXB’s annual capacityto above 100 million by the end ofthe decade. The plan envisages anadditional 675,000 square metres of
floor space across the gateway - twicethe footprint of Heathrow’s Terminal 5- thanks largely to the completion of abrand new concourse next year.
“We’ve got Concourse D coming
onstream which, with a few otherimprovements, will take us over 90million [capacity in 2015],” Griffithsrecently confirmed to The Gulf .
Al Maktoum Airport at DWC will be able to handle 120 million passengers within ‘six to eight years’
“We’ve also got some tacticalimprovements to the way we handlethe air traffic control systems. That will
give us some very significant improve-ments in the flow rate, and give ussome very significant upgrades in ourability to handle the number of airtraffic movements that we need tohandle. So, all in all, there’s a lot of
different initiatives going on that willactually give us the ability to get to ourdemand of 103.2 [million] by 2020.”
With space at DXB dwindling,Griffiths admitted that the scope for
any further expansion beyond 2020will be limited to yet more “technicaland flow-process enhancements” thatoptimise existing facilities. “So [at thatpoint] we are going to have to bite thebullet and start the construction of the
second phase of DWC,” he confirmed.Though upgrading two mega-hubs
in tandem may seem an excessivelyambitious task, there are in fact somesymbiotic advantages to the strategy.
This summer, for example, the consec-utive closure of DXB’s two runways forresurfacing work gave an operationalfillip to both hubs. As well as enhanc-ing DXB’s facilities with additional
taxiways and rapid runway exits, the80-day refurbishment programmeallowed DWC to get its first taste ofsignificantly increased passengeroperations.
A total of 18 airlines requested
landing slots at DWC between May and July. Six of those carriers were alreadyserving the new airport - which beganaccepting passenger flights in October2013 - while the other eight were brand
new to the facility. This spike in activi-ty resulted in DWC processing 476,000passengers during the second quarter,more than quadrupling its Q2 2013
by Martin Rivers
8
ture - due to a mixture of blinkeredpolitical priorities and anti-competitive
regulatory environments - and Dubai’srising star seems all but inevitable.
Phase One of the DWC developmentencompasses two satellite buildings
October 2014 | the gulf 26
feature AVIATION
figure. At the height of operations, 600passenger flights a week were beingflown to and from the fledgling base.
Alongside this growth in passengertraffic, freight volumes at DWC havealso been steadily rising since thefirst cargo flight landed at the airportin June 2010. The latest milestonecame in May 2014 when EmiratesSkyCargo, the flag carrier’s freighterdivision, relocated to the hub. It joined35 other scheduled and charter freightoperators, pushing second-quartercargo volumes up to 200,000 tonnes,again four times higher than the sameperiod last year.
With four scheduled passengerairlines maintaining their presenceat DWC after the DXB runway workended - Bahrain’s Gulf Air, Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways, Qatar Airways andHungary’s Wizz Air - the airport isbeing put through its paces aheadof the immeasurably vaster passengerflows to come.
Building a world-class airport,however, requires much more thansuper-sized facilities. Emphasising theneed for a “quantum leap in thinking”when it comes to airport design,Griffiths has promised to fundamen-tally re-conceptualise the experienceof transiting through an internation-al gateway. “You need to design thebuilding around the ultimate way inwhich it will be used,” he explained.“We’re not going to base the architec-tural design on the conventionalunderstanding of the current airportprocess … The customer servicerequirement will drive the architecturaldesign.”
Contemporary airport structuresreflect the preconceived notion thatpassengers must converge on asingle, central space, before process-ing their documents and continuingtheir onward travel. This relianceon check-in counters is little morethan a hangover from the days beforeself-boarding was introduced. It willnot be preserved in DWC.
“Taking a fresh view and startingagain, you can design very positiveproduct features that other airportsthat are growing incrementally onlydream of,” Griffiths enthused. “I’mtalking about … a journey that is much
more slick and efficient.”Instead of relying on manned
counters in the terminal, DWC willexploit “distributed processing” toensure that passengers can check inand drop off their bags at various stagesof the landside journey. Individualswho travel by train to the airport, forexample, will be invited to depositluggage when first entering their localrailway station. They will also beable to use a single electronic tokencontaining their train ticket, boardingpass, baggage tag, and perhaps alsobiometric identity documents.
As well as reducing bottlenecks bydevolving check-in to the “first point ofcall” - be it a train station, a limousineservice, or simply online check-in at home - distributed processingwill streamline the customer experi-ence and enable a more stress-free,enjoyable journey. This will further be
enhanced by way-finding facilities thatcan interact with personal handhelddevices, although Griffiths admittedthat an industry-wide standard has yetto emerge in this field.
“Things move on so quickly,” henoted. “You find when you’re design-ing technological solutions that thingswhich were not possible when youwere thinking it through suddenly are.So we have to be careful that we investat the right rate.”
Taken together with the DWCaerotropolis - a confluence of sixclustered zones spanning 140 squarekilometres and encompassing realestate developments, entertainmentfacilities, and free trade areas - AlMaktoum International Airport willbecome an entirely new propositionfor global travellers. The decision tolift DWC’s projected capacity to 200million reflects the progress alreadymade by flag carrier Emirates and itsaffiliate flydubai. By 2020, when thesecond phase of development kicksinto gear, it is expected that aviationwill contribute about 32 per cent of theemirate’s GDP.
“The longest journey starts with thefirst step, and this is a giant leapahead for Dubai’s constantly growingaviation infrastructure,” a governmentofficial remarked in 2005, shortly afterthe first DWC plans were unveiled.With the latest project update, Dubaihas made another stride forward. Andthe protestations of naysayers havefaded further into distant memory. <
‘Things move on so quickly.
You find when you’re
designing technological
solutions that things
which were not possible
when you were thinking it
through suddenly are. So
we have to be careful that
we invest at the right rate’
Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports
The big move: Emirates SkyCargo transferred operations to DWC in May this year
8
P h o t o : A l e x S c h ä f e r
