Newstrack

Airspace biggest challenge facing aviation growth

ETW Staff - Dubai

At a special session during the fourth Arabian Hotel Investment Conference held from May 3 to 5, 2008, Dubai Airport's CEO Paul Griffiths mentioned that in order to complete the growth in hotels and tourism infrastructure, there was a pressing need to increase airspace capacity across the Gulf region. "This means unlocking current 'no fly' zones around the GCC as these will pose a fundamental barrier to growth," he said.

Griffiths acknowledged it was not an issue that individual countries could solve independently but called for intra-regional co-operation, stating that unless they started to work together with more co-ordination, it could prove a significant problem for Dubai and the region as a whole. Turning to the imminent launch of Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, Griffiths refused to give a confirmed opening date, saying a 'big bang' was the worse possible scenario in terms of opening a complex operation such as an airport. "Bangkok, Hong Kong, Heathrow Terminal 5 all suffered problems in this respect," he said. "If you commit to a date, it is better to delay this rather than plough ahead if this deadline cannot be met. Terminal 3 will open when it is ready," he stressed.

Turning to the subject of possible over-capacity in the Gulf given the expansion at airports in Abu Dhabi, Doha and other destinations, Griffiths said there was a global need for more airports, more runways and more terminals. "If we don't build capacity for Dubai, it will not be successful," he said, while raising some doubt as to whether the existing international airport would continue to operate once the Al Maktoum International facility at Dubai World Central is fully operational. "Our challenge is building to cope with continued 20 per cent annual growth in passenger numbers," he said, as he continued, "It is a big assumption that Dubai will be a two-airport city."