The ambitious growth plans of Dubai Airports will see it span multiple generations, according to the group’s director of aviation business development, Khalil Lamrabet. After being presented with the overall winner award at the first ever Routes Middle East & Africa Marketing Awards in the Kingdom of Bahrain this month, he said that Dubai International Airport will be "the last airport of the current generation", but that Dubai Airports is already working on the "first airport of the next generation" in Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC).
"We are really grateful for this recognition. This is important for us. We thank all of our airline partners for their trust and for their votes. Our aim is to deliver excellence in all what we do and we aim to continue doing this," he told Routesonline after collecting the award at the stunning new Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay in Manama.
Dubai International (DXB) has established itself as one of the world’s preferred passenger and cargo hubs linking east and west offering connections for passengers to virtually every corner of the world, while Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai’s airport of the future, complements this offering with its compact, efficient passenger terminal and bustling cargo business. Dubai Airports, which owns and manages the operation and development of both Dubai International and Al Maktoum International, has a lot to offer its airline partners.
Dubai International secured the position as the largest airport for international passengers last year, jumping ahead of the long-time number one, London Heathrow numbers. Full year passenger numbers totalled 70,475,636, up 6.1 per cent from the 66,431,533 recorded in 2013.
Dubai Airports confirmed last month that construction is expected to begin later this year on the expansion of Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central’s (DWC’s) existing passenger terminal which will boost the current capacity of 6 million passengers a year to 26 million. As Dubai International nears its capacity limit due to the rapid growth of passenger traffic, DWC will play an increasingly important role in absorbing additional traffic. The project is a precursor to the $32bn expansion project announced last September to create the world’s biggest airport with an ultimate capacity in excess of 200 million passengers per year.
You can watch our EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW with Khalil Lamrabet from Routes Middle East & Africa, below...
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