Abu Dhabi ‘green’ terminal to handle 30m passengers

Abu Dhabi: The 30 million passengers a year estimated to pass through the new Midfield Terminal Building (MTB) at Abu Dhabi Airports from 2017 will be impressed by its green features, an official said.

The Dh10.8 billion building will be the highest green rated building in the GCC with many eco-friendly features, Tony Douglas, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Abu Dhabi Airports, said on Monday.

He was talking at a symposium on sustainable critical infrastructure, organised by the Masdar Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at Yas Marina Circuit.

The MTB will have 12 per cent improved energy efficiency (compared to conventional buildings) and 23 per cent improvement on lighting, Douglas said. The building will not have any incandescent lights.

A 45 per cent reduction in water consumption is also expected.

The MTB has won a three-pearl rating from Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council’s Estidama’s (sustainability) programme, which certifies a building’s eco-friendly features and gives up to five pearls.

Seventy per cent of the plants to be used in the project will be adaptive to drought and saline water. Eighty five per cent of pedestrian walkways and 100 per cent of car parking areas will be shaded.

About 16.5 million passengers travelled through Abu Dhabi airports in 2013 and the number of passengers is expected to increase up to 18 million in 2014, Douglas told Gulf News.

Abu Dhabi International Airport currently has the capacity to handle 17.5 million passengers a year. The MTB alone is expected to handle 30 million passengers a year. Scheduled to open on July 17, 2017, the MTB will be a gateway to the UAE capital and the future home of Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE.

The 700,000 square metre site is being built by a joint venture between Turkish construction company TAV, Greek Consolidated Contractors Company and Arabtec.

Douglas said the MTB will meet the increasing demand being created by the exponential growth of Etihad Airways.

Etihad has codeshare agreements with many European carriers and has acquired minority stakes of many international carriers in Asia and Europe.

The construction of the MTB is progressing on schedule. Its first steel arch was assembled on February 5, 2014, a milestone that marked the launch of the roof structure sequence for the mega project.

The first arch that has been erected is one of the 18 arches to make up the steel structure for the MTB roof.