Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, toured the new Concourse 3 of Terminal 3 at the Dubai International airport.
Shaikh Mohammad was accompanied by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s Crown Prince, in his tour around the building which cost over Dh12 billion. It will be officially inaugurated in January 2013 and will have the capacity of holding 19 million passengers annually.
He started his tour at the current building — Concourse 2 — by inspecting the Residency and Foreigners Affairs counters, where he directed the UAE nationals working there on the best way to receive and see off visitors in the UAE with a smile and kind words.
Shaikh Mohammad stopped at the passengers’ inspection gateways and ordered that visitors be treated with respect and hospitality in a manner which reflects the traditions of the UAE’s culture.
Shaikh Mohammad then headed towards the new building via the internal airport Metro which links the two buildings and extends over a distance of 1.5 kilometres in both directions and has the capacity of carrying 6,000 passengers per hour.
Train system earns praise
He praised the idea of the internal Metro which facilitates passengers’ transport to deliver them on time for their flights.
Shaikh Mohammad inspected the new building’s facilities, including the special halls for receiving passengers on the giant Emirates Airbus A380. The building which was designed for receiving this giant airplane covers an area of 528 square metres and is designed to accommodate twenty A380 airplanes at the same time.
Shaikh Mohammad also viewed the designs for the first and business class areas and the 5- and 4-star hotels which include 200 rooms, a health spa, and a business centre.
Shaikh Mohammad also toured the passengers’ luggage area and viewed the latest techniques in carrying and loading luggage in a completely automated manner.
Before leaving the building, Shaikh Mohammad also toured the arrivals area for Emirates passengers.
Shaikh Mohammad was also briefed by Maj Gen Mohammad Ahmad Al Merri, Director General of the Dubai General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (DNRD), on the latest techniques of electronic gateways used by those arriving in the country.
Al Merri said that two gateways have been activated experimentally before 12 new gateways are formally activated in the new concourse.
