Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Wednesday inspected the new Emirates’ Airbus A380 Concourse 3, the world’s first dedicated facility at Dubai International Airport that is home to the airline’s growing fleet of super jumbos.
It features dedicated first and business class lounges.
Accompanying Shaikh Mohammad during the tour were, Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.
They toured various sections of Concourse 3, which is scheduled to receive its first flight in January 2013.
Shaikh Mohammad began his tour with the new Free Market which includes several Malls for retail business spread over a total area of more than 1,200 square metres.
During his one-hour visit, Shaikh Mohammad toured the Airbus 380-designated gates designated for lining up aircraft, equipped with load bridges for passengers to move between the aircraft and the Terminal, and six other gates dedicated to serving aircraft parked away from the terminal. He also toured the luxury first-class and businessmen’s lounges, which have been equipped to the latest global standards.
Shaikh Majed Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, Dr. Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, Reem Ebrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State, Shaikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Lt. General Musabbeh Rashid Al Fattan, Director of the Office of the Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, the Director General of Dubai Protocol and Guests,and Mohammad Juma Al Naboodah also accompanied the Vice President.
Sheikh Mohammad was briefed by Engineer Khalifa Al Zafeen, the CEO of Dubai Aviation City, on this huge project and its components. Concourse 3 is 650 metres in length and 90 metres in width and covers a total area of 530,000 metres with 11 stories, four of them underground. There are automated passenger transport points for arrivals and departures.
Concourse 3 has five-star and four-star hotels, a Mall with 40 counters to follow flights and airlines. It also has an internal metro that carries passengers to and from Terminal 3, which is dedicated for Emirates Airlines, and Terminal 2 with a capacity of 19 million passengers annually. Overall, Concourse 2 and 3 will have a capacity of 43 million passengers annually.
Visitors and residents of many nationalities coming to the UAE through Terminal 3 welcomed Shaikh Mohammad as he toured the arrivals Hall and inspected work performance on the counters. Shaikh Mohammad also rode on the Dubai Metro to Burj Khalifa, passing through several stations where some of Dubai’s attractions were displayed.
The Vice President expressed his pride at the implementation of the Dubai Metro, which he described as “the Project of the Century.” His last stop was the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, from whose Metro station he and his entourage walked to the adjacent mall through the 820-metre walkway, built by Emaar Property at a total cost of Dh120 million.
Shaikh Mohammad then had a coffee at one of the outlets in the Mall where he was greeted by a large number of people.
