Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Aeromorning - HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Endorses $7.8 Billion Expansion of Dubai International

Dubai Airports today announced that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and the Ruler of Dubai, has endorsed its US$7.8 billion (28.8 billion AED) airport and airspace expansion programme which will boost capacity at Dubai International from 60 million to 90 million passengers per year by 2018.

The plan, which was presented to HH Sheikh Mohammed at a high-level meeting held at Dubai International earlier this week, is designed to deliver aviation infrastructure which will support the continuation of the sector’s impressive growth, facilitate Dubai’s economic expansion and generate 22% of total employment and 32% of the emirate’s GDP by 2020. It responds to a ten year traffic forecast for Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC) that projects international passenger and cargo traffic will increase at an average annual growth rate of 7.2% and 6.7% respectively.

“The combination of rallying tourism, Dubai’s proximity to the emerging economies of India and China, and the emirates’ established role as a trading hub, is together expected to drive traffic growth and further elevate Dubai’s status as a global centre for aviation,” said HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airports and President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority. “By 2020, 98.5 million passengers and over four million tonnes of air freight will pass through our airports. The fleets and networks of Emirates and flydubai will grow considerably to accommodate traffic and capture market share. Similarly, our infrastructure must expand to enable this growth and facilitate the trade, tourism and commerce that in turn will support the prosperity of Dubai.”


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