Abu Dhabi: Details and strategies for the new Abu Dhabi airport terminal were released on Sunday at the second annual World Class Airports conference being held in the capital.
"An airport is a reflection of a city. Our airports must reflect the growth of our emirate with strong emphasis on safety and security, customer service and be environmentally friendly," Khalifa Al Mazrouei, Chairman and Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Airports Company, told Gulf News.
Terminal 3 will add ten new gates, two of which will be used for Etihad Airways' new A380. The new terminal will be opened in a phased manner and will add capacity for five million additional passengers.
The Abu Dhabi Airport Company also discussed the Sir Bani Yas resort airport, and changes to be made to Al Ain International Airport as an alternative to Abu Dhabi. Once completed, Abu Dhabi will be able to handle 50 million passengers per year.
The three-day conference is bringing together 150 experts from across the world specialising in airports and the industry. "The significance of this conference is to exchange ideas, trends and discuss the challenges that we all face," Mazrouei said.
Although the expansion is designed to meet growing demand, it is to also diversify Abu Dhabi away from dependence on oil.
"This is in line with the Government's direction to diversify our economy from oil and gas to include tourism. The terminal will provide that infrastructure to meet this directive," Mazrouei said.
"Travel has changed drastically," Steve Wareham, director of operations at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport in the US, told delegates. "Travel has gone from business to leisure," he added.
Key features: More traffic
Second runway
Ten new gates
New air traffic control centre
Enhanced cargo village
Shopping park
Property developments
By Marten Youssef
© Gulf News 2008
