Al Ain, July 24th, 2007: The Airbus A380, the world's first double-deck aircraft, has once again chosen Al Ain International Airport as home base for its hot weather tests. This is the third time in a row that Airbus has used Al Ain International Airport as base for ensuring compatibility of its systems with hot climates.
The giant craft will touch down at Al Ain Airport at 6 pm today at the beginning of an intensive compatibility testing and pilot training programme to ensure that the craft is ready for commercial operation.
Welcoming the A380, Faris Al Mazrouei, Al Ain Airport Director, said the fact that Airbus had chosen Al Ain Airport as base for the A380 hot weather compatibility tests testified to their confidence in the professional services available at the airport.
Al Ain International Airport played host to the A380's hot weather checks twice during 2006. This year's programme includes a week-long testing and pilot training.
Al Mazrouei said preparations had been made to ensure that the craft received the best support during its stay at Al Ain Airport.
Al Ain International Airport serves the eastern region of Abu Dhabi with an efficient cargo hub facility and is an ideal base for low cost and low fare carriers. The location alone means carriers who prefer to operate from a secondary airport can easily tap the entire UAE market. Al Ain is just a 60 minute drive from both Abu Dhabi and Dubai with congestion-free highways linking the three cities and making transport easy and reliable for passengers. The terminal facilities, built in 1994 and recently refreshed, are modern and spacious catering to many combinations of narrow or wide body aircraft with easy walk-up access to the terminal.
Recently, the Emirates Corporation for Commercial Postal Services (Empost) has moved in to take advantage of Al Ain Airport's strategic location. The UAE national courier has chosen Al Ain Airport as the main hub for their international air cargo operations, which will extend to the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East, and Europe.
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About Abu Dhabi Airports Company
Abu Dhabi Airports Company, ADAC, is a joint-stock company wholly owned by Abu Dhabi Government. It was incorporated by Emiri Decree number 5, of March 4th, 2006, to spearhead the development of the Emirate's aviation infrastructure.
ADAC has officially taken over the operation and management of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain international Airports, as of 28/09/2006. Under its mandate will be the re-development and expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport, which includes the new midfield terminal designed to increase the overall capacity of the airport to 20 million passengers by 2010.
For more information please contact:
Adil Ibrahim,
Senior PR Executive,
Abu Dhabi Airports Company "ADAC"
Tel: 971 2 505 3482
Fax; 971 2 575 8300
Mob. 971 050 686 1380
E-mail: aibrahim@adac.ae
© Press Release 2007
