The Hindu Business Line : Dubai plans to build world's largest airport

DUBAI authorities have announced the world's largest airport Jebel Ali International Airport, JXB, to be built at a cost of Dhs30 billion. The airport will handle 120 million passengers per year.

The Department of Civil Aviation of the Government of Dubai launched Jebel Ali Airport City (JAAC), a 140-sq. km development, at the ongoing Dubai Air Show. The Dubai Civil Aviation Director for Engineering and Projects, Mr Khalifa Al Zaffin, said the project is designed to serve Dubai's passenger and cargo air transportation needs until 2050 and beyond. It will have at least six parallel runways and concourses to handle more than 120 million passengers and more than 12 million tonnes of cargo per year.

The project will be completed in phases, and the first aircraft will land in the first quarter of 2007 on completion of phase one. The project will be financed through internal resources and consortium banking.

At the core of JAAC, and scheduled to be the project's first component to launch operations at the end of 2007, is Dubai Logistics City (DLC), a free zone for businesses which require or provide logistics and multi-modal transport services to the GCC, wider West Asia, India, Africa, South East Europe and the CIS.

The grading work for the first 4.5-km runway is already at an advanced stage and, when completed, it will cater for a significant portion of air cargo transported through Dubai.

The 25-sq. km development will also feature office buildings, and will provide lands for industrial businesses, trading companies, distributors, logistics service providers and forwarders, shared facilities, such as warehouses and modern air-side cargo handling facilities.

DLC is aimed at boosting business opportunities and developing services and facilities for its customer base that address the needs of leading global, regional and local industrial businesses, trading companies and logistics service providers who need multi-modal transportation. These will include airlines, integrators, multi-national, regional and local forwarders, and third party logistics service providers. It will also target key high-end logistics users, including multi-national companies within the automotive, IT, pharmaceutical, electronics and communication industries as well as relief and aid NGOs and service companies.

Other Jebel Ali Airport City developments include Commercial City, Aviation City, Residential City, a Golf Resort, a Science and Technology Park and Exhibition City.

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