Dubai: Dubai International airport handled 31 per cent more flights on Monday than its daily average during the 80-day runway closure.
The airport returned to full operations on Monday after consecutively closing both runways from May 1 to July 20 for scheduled runway maintenance and refurbishment.
The runway upgrade work is part of Dubai Airports’ $7.8 billion (Dh28.64 billion) SP2020 master plan to expand Dubai International capacity and enable it to handle more than 103 million passengers by 2020.
Dubai Airports said in a statement on Tuesday that the refurbished runways allow the airport to “accommodate more traffic” and improve “operational flexibility during busy peak traffic periods.”
“I am pleased that our planning and preparations over the past year not only ensured that the impact on passengers during the 80-day period was minimal but that we were able to resume full operations and accommodate increased traffic at the end of the programme without a hitch,” stated Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.
A number of airlines moved operations back to Dubai International after temporary relocating to Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central and Sharjah International. The airlines include flydubai, Malaysian Airlines, Royal Brunei and PAL Express as well as selected flights from Qatar Airways and Gulf Air.
“The runway upgrade programme tested the mettle of the over 60,000 people who work at DXB whose dedication and teamwork resulted in the successful delivery of an incredibly demanding programme, led by Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects and Dubai Airports’ operations, while maintaining high traffic volumes and top-flight service levels... Additionally it allowed tens of thousands of passengers to experience the speed, convenience and efficiency of DWC, Dubai’s second airport,” Griffiths stated.
