The upgrade of Abu Dhabi International Airport's existing runway is expected to be completed before the end of 2008.

“Adac (Abu Dhabi Airports Company) is currently upgrading the existing runway from CAT II to CAT III, which will enable landing and take off at a visibility level of 50 metres. The upgrade work will be completed before the end of 2008,” said Khalifa Al Mazrouei, chairman and managing director of Adac.

He was reacting to the recent air traffic disruptions at the airport to bad weather. “We do appreciate the frustrations passengers have come through in the past few days as a result of the fog. However, our first and foremost responsibility as airport operators is to the safety and security of our passengers. At the same time, we are striving to put in place new measures to ensure that adverse weather conditions will have minimal impact on our passengers’ travel plans,” he said.
 
“We will work hard to try and bring completion forward to ensure weather conditions in November 2008 will not impact travelers,” he added, giving details of the upgrade project.

Meanwhile, work on the second runway is progressing fast, with construction work due to be completed in February next year. This CAT III runway will be able to handle the new generation of wide-bodied aircraft, including the Airbus A380. The dual-runway system will enable the airport to handle 70 take-offs/landings per hour.

The airport’s third terminal, which will come on line in mid 2008, will almost double the current capacity to 12 million passengers. Featuring eight gates, including two A380 compatible, the new terminal will meet the demand of Etihad Airways until the Midfield Terminal Complex is ready in 2010.

Adac also plans to build a new four-star hotel adjacent to Terminal 3. The four-storey facility, to be opened in the first quarter of 2009, will provide an additional 320-room capacity. There are also plans for two other hotels to cope with the anticipated surge in demand.

On the facilities level, Adac is expanding its existing satellite area to create more room for additional airport services and more seating space. Thanks to this expansion, some of the major international renowned catering outlets, such as McDonalds and Starbucks will be offering their services to passengers starting from January 2008. Also a new lounge has just been opened at Terminal 1. The Yas Lounge is dedicated to economy class travelers who stop over at Abu Dhabi Airport for more than six hours before joining their next flight.

“Our pursuit for improvement is endless. We will continue to strive toward achieving our vision of creating best in class airport facilities to cope with Abu Dhabi’s ambitious development plans,” Al Mazrouei concluded. - TradeArabia News Service