Dubai International Airport to handle more than 70 million pax in 2014

Dubai Civil Aviation Authority president and Dubai Airports chairman HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said (03-Aug-2014) he is confident the completion of Dubai International Airport's major runway refurbishment programme and the return of full schedule operations ahead of the Eid Al Fitr holidays "will bring in a significant surge in air traffic. During the runway work, airlines used bigger aircraft where possible and load factors were higher than usual, resulting in an actual reduction in seat and passenger numbers of less than 26%. Sheikh Al Maktoum said he is confident Dubai will handle over 70 million passengers in 2014 "which will bring us further closer to becoming the world's number one airport for international passengers." He also added that the next upgrade project, Concourse D, is due to open in1Q2015, with a trial is planned to be conducted soon. The fourth concourse is part of the USD7.8 billion expansion programme designed to boost the airport's capacity to over 100 million passengers p/a by 2020. The development of Al Maktoum International Airport with an eventual capacity of 160 million passengers is also progressing in phases. [more - original PR]