Dubai: The check-in process could be eliminated at the new Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali in order to improve passenger experience, said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, operator of Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport.
"Why check in?" asked Griffiths on his eighth Airport Show keynote speech yesterday at the Dubai Airport Expo. "Once customers have paid for goods they want to buy, do you then need to confirm if they want to use something they have already paid a lot of money for?"
He said most passengers prefers to get in and out of the airport as fast as possible. In order to cater for that need, the new airport will seek to eliminate the check-in process and integrate immigration, security and customs in one place.
He also said the airport was designed to minimise passengers' walking distance to and from their travel gates. It will also incorporate new technologies to help to get people out of the airport as soon as possible.
The airport will have the capacity to handle 12 million tonnes of cargo and more than 120 million passengers a year, making it the world's largest cargo and passenger hub. Of the 120 million passengers, 100 million are expected to be transit passengers.
Target
The aim is to make the Al Maktoum International Airport, which is four times bigger than the new Hong Kong Airport, not only the biggest, but also the best hub in the world, capable to handle all new generation aircraft, including the A380 super jumbo.
According to Griffiths, growth in the aviation industry can only be positive and Dubai has seen the highest aviation growth, 14 per cent higher than the world's growth rate.
He said Dubai International Airport has seen a 20 per cent growth and is now the world's fastest growing airport.
The goal is to keep growing to put Dubai International Airport among the top ten airports in the world within ten years.
The Airport Show, is the largest airport construction, operations, technology and services exhibition in the world this year.
