Plans for the expansion of UAE’s Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA) were revealed by a senior official, who said the $32 billion development would be completed by the first quarter of 2022.

“The phase is scheduled for completion in Q1 of 2022, by which time we expect AMIA’s annual passenger capacity to increase from the current 5 million passengers to 130 million,” said Khalifa Al Zaffin, executive chairman, Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC).

“Our current aim for Al Maktoum International Airport is twofold: to attract more airlines to operate from the airport and ease passenger traffic at Dubai International until Phase 1 of the new airport is ready. In that context, AMIA is currently undergoing an expansionary phase that will see its annual passenger handling capacity rise from the current 5 million to 7 million by early 2016,” he said.

Furthermore, UAE’s aviation industry has seen remarkable growth over the years, with its airports handling over 101 million passengers in 2014, of which over 71 million was handled alone by Dubai International Airport.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA); and chairman of Dubai Airports, said consistent and committed efforts towards aviation development have resulted in Dubai International becoming the world’s number one airport for international passengers and the UAE being recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for having the world’s safest aviation industry.

Sheikh Ahmed, who is also the chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group; and chairman of Dubai World Central Corporation, said aviation’s importance in the region will grow significantly in the run up to Expo 2020 as the UAE continues with its massive expansion plans to cater to the growth in the industry.

“We are developing Al Maktoum International Airport (AMIA) in Dubai World Central (DWC) into the world’s biggest airport with an annual capacity of over 220 million passengers. Alongside, we are continuing to develop the Dubai International Airport, which will handle 100 million passengers when the expansion plans get over. Emirates airlines and flydubai have also remained in expansion mode,” Sheikh Ahmed said.

Describing the UAE aviation sector as expanding, modernising and one that promotes competition, Omar bin Ghaleb, deputy director general, General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), UAE, said the aircraft movements in the region’s airspace will also increase to 1.62 million in 2030 with aircraft movements numbering 4,400 per day compared with the present 2,200 aircraft movements.

 “The UAE has made significant strides of growth in the aviation domain in the past few years. Today, we can say with pride that the UAE offers one of the most advanced aviation infrastructure facilities,” Ghaleb said. – TradeArabia News Service