Business | Aviation
Abu Dhabi airport to handle 40m passengers by 2030
Redevelopment projects proceeding on schedule, operator says
- By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 September 5, 2010
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
- Abu Dhabi International Airport is undergoing a massive expansion at a cost of approximately $6.8 billion to meet ever-increasing demand as a result of a growing population and the emirate's growing stature.
Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi International Airport's $6.8 billion (Dh25 billion) redevelopment plan is on track, with the delivery of projects lined up all the way to 2030.
"The projects will be completed in phases. In the immediate future, the air traffic control tower work will be completed in 2011, with the midfield terminal complex phase 1 also finished in the next few years," a spokeswoman for Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), an entity responsible for overseeing the airport's redevelopment, told Gulf News. Abu Dhabi International Airport was built in 1982.
French company Thales is a technology supplier and is involved in integrating the systems and command centre at the airport's air traffic control tower. In late 2008, ADAC awarded Thales a $36.7 million contract for the tower. The 109 metre, 20-storey tower is situated between the first and second runways at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
"The completion of the midfield terminal complex phase 1 will increase the handling capacity of the Abu Dhabi International Airport to 20 million passengers a year, from 12 million passengers a year, now," the ADAC spokeswoman added.
By 2030, when the project is scheduled to be fully completed and delivered, the airport's handling capacity will increase to 40 million passengers a year, in line with the projected population growth of Abu Dhabi and the completion of all other mega-projects in the emirate, under construction or planned, which are currently estimated to be worth a collective $200 billion.
Most recently, Terminal 3 at the Abu Dhabi International Airport was opened last year, which took the airport's passenger handling capacity to 12 million passengers a year, from 5 million a year. The cost of constructing Terminal-3 was close to Dh1 billion. There are currently 52 airlines operating in and out of the Abu Dhabi International Airport, with more to follow, as the airport emerges as a major regional aviation hub.
"Abu Dhabi is fast growing into one of the world's major cities and a top-class business centre. The growth of its airline, Etihad Airways, and the international airport is in line with the emirate's Vision 2030," said London-based Max Sukkhasantikul, aviation analyst at Frost & Sullivan, a global market intelligence and consultancy firm.
Aviation hub
He said that traditionally Frankfurt, Paris and London in the West and Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore in the East were the global aviation hubs. But now, Middle East destinations such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi are fast emerging as aviation hubs due to their strategic global location.
"With longer-range aircraft and advancement in aircraft technologies, longer-range flights can be done from the region," he said, adding that it now takes less time to fly from the UK to Sydney via Abu Dhabi than from the UK to Sydney via Southeast Asia.
Saj Ahmad, a UK-based aerospace/airline analyst with FBE Aerospace, said the growth in Abu Dhabi complements Dubai's growth and gives the UAE a much more dominant position in the GCC, allowing it to continue to capture huge swathes of traffic.
"To that end, the growth in passenger figures will continue to rise in Abu Dhabi as Etihad grows its network. While Etihad will still be second fiddle to Emirates, it will be streets ahead of Doha. Doha's new airport will still handle less [traffic] than Abu Dhabi. Etihad can leverage that strength to open up new routes and new markets and give passengers more travel choices," he added.
In August 2006, Abu Dhabi International, along with all of the other airports in the emirate, were privatised and placed under the auspices of ADAC — with a share value of Dh500 million.
In a landmark development, Abu Dhabi International Airport on July 30 welcomed its one millionth passenger within a calendar month, reinforcing the view that Abu Dhabi has come a long way indeed as a business and leisure destination for international travellers.
The top routes from Abu Dhabi in the first half of 2010 were London, Bangkok, Doha, Manila and Bahrain.
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