Serco wins £245m Dubai airports deal

Support services group Serco has won a 10-year, £245m contract to provide air traffic control at Dubai’s airports. The emirate is attempting to transform itself into the world’s biggest airport hub.

Dubai Airport is already the world’s 11th-busiest cargo airport and 20th-biggest in terms of passengers carried. Maktoum Airport, a new facility under construction in the desert south-east of the city, is projected to become the world’s busiest when it is completed in 2017, with a capacity of 160m passengers. Atlanta, the world’s busiest passenger hub, has a capacity of 90m passengers.

There have been fears that Maktoum would be abandoned after the tightening of credit caused a sharp downturn in Dubai’s construction sector last autumn. But Dubai Airports says the first terminal at the site, with a capacity of 7m-9m passengers, is on schedule to open next June, though details of the remaining facilities are still being finalised.