Dubai Airport Freezone to double capacity

Dubai: Dubai Airport Free Zone will invest Dh1.3 billion to almost double its capacity with six new buildings and a hotel.

The expansion comes at a time of significant growth and expectations of high demand from companies relocating to the free zone in the coming years.

In the first quarter of this year, it saw a 48 per cent increase in revenues and a 49 per cent increase in net profits compared to the corresponding quarter in 2008.

"The growth is an indicator that we are doing good and foreign direct investment is not bad," Mohammad Ahmad Al Zarouni, director-general of Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZ) said to Gulf News.

Last year, DAFZ recorded a total net profit of Dh175 million.

Al Zarouni said that the coming quarter will see stable growth. "We reached our target for the first month of the first quarter," and the results are "good," he said.

However, regarding the second quarter, he said it would slow down, as it usually does due to the summer season.

"Compared to the first quarter, it [growth] would be less because it is summer and not because people are going to leave," he said.

"Our strategy now is to focus on the east land, and after that we will have no more space for expansion," he said, adding that the government might provide additional space based on the growth and its positive impact on the economy.

The zone currently has about 1,500 companies, and while the space required differs vastly for each company, Al Zarouni said the new buildings would accommodate over 1,000 more companies.

Total leasable area for the new project will be 100,000 square metres, while the built-up area will be 320,000 square metres.

Construction is set to begin in the third or last quarter of this year.

The location has so far seen an investment of Dh1.8 billion, not including what will be spent on new construction.