Dubai: The subsidy spat between US and Gulf carriers has not affected plans for Dubai to have a US customs preclearance facility at Dubai Airport, Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group, said on Tuesday.
“Even after the allegations started, the US officials want to see the facility in Dubai — similar to what they have at the Abu Dhabi Airport,” he told reporters at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM).
He added that the issue, however, is the space available today at the Dubai International for the American Homeland Security and Custom to be there. “So it is not like they don’t want to do it. It’s just that I don’t have the space at the moment,” he said.
Shaikh Ahmad did not rule out the possibility of having the facility at the Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central (DWC). “We could think of putting the facility at the airport in Jebel Ali [DWC] as it’s new and has the space. But that doesn’t stop us from looking at if we can still do it at the existing airport.”
Abu Dhabi International Airport already has that facility. The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility at the Abu Dhabi Airport’s Terminal 3 allows passengers on certain flights to the US to undertake all immigration, customs and agriculture inspections before departure.
Qatar has also been in talks with the US authorities to apply for a US preclearance facility at their newly-opened airport in Doha.
Shaikh Ahmad also said that Emirates is “going ahead with its global expansion plan” that includes launching additional US routes despite the US carriers accusing Emirates of receiving unfair subsidies besides its aggressive expansion into the US.
