Top Middle East airports

To keep pace with the Middle East aviation industry's rapid growth, governments are investing billions of dollars to modernise the region's leading hubs. Aviation Business profiles 8 of the area's busiest facilities.

Dubai International Airport

Dubai International is connected to more than 205 destinations across six continents and was named the world's fastest growing airport in 2007. Expanding at an average rate of more than 15% annually since 2002, the airport now accounts for some 27% of all traveller and aircraft movements in the Middle East and Africa.

Last August, the airport had a record month for passenger figures, with more than three million people travelling through.

The airport handled some 33.5 million travellers in 2007, exceeding early estimates for the year by three and a half million. Elsewhere, airport movements have also climbed considerably during the past six months, with Dubai International handling 260,530 movements, a 9.8% increase from 2006.

Mohammed Ahli, director general of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and CEO of air traffic services, believes the 'open skies' policy has contributed to the hub's traffic growth.

New airlines are constantly launching routes to Dubai, with 120 flying to the emirate by the end of 2007. Dubai International CEO Paul Griffiths argues that Dubai's enviable global position and established national carrier makes continued expansion inevitable.

"Emirates is certainly exploiting Dubai's position with their new aircraft orders and I really do believe that they're a bit like a super nova," he says.

"They've managed to suck in every single bit of traffic in the region; there's hardly an airline on the globe that hasn't lost market share to Emirates in some way or another. As the enabling facility here, able to support Emirates, I believe we're well placed to do that."

The airport's expansion plans include construction of a new terminal and two airside facilities, one of which is specifically designed for Emirates' planned fleet of Airbus A380s. Costing an estimated US$4.5 billion, Terminal 3 is expected to open in mid-2008 and offer passengers various luxuries including lounges and restaurants.

In addition, a new baggage handling system is under development, which will be the largest in the world. The airport's management believes the new system will be capable of handling around 15,000 items of baggage per hour.

Griffiths says: "The new terminal is progressing very well, but there's clearly an awful lot to do and we've a tough deadline to open it this summer. I think our challenge is to continue to deliver growth at this airport at a speed that will not constrain the growth of Emirates Airline."

He adds that Dubai International's management aims to double the hub's passenger figures before the new airport, Al Maktoum International, opens.

Further plans for Dubai International include revamping the restaurants and shopping centres, speeding up check-in processes and improving service and capacity. Safety and security is another area that the airport's management is looking to improve without disrupting the passengers.

RAK International Airport

The hub is located 40 minutes away from Dubai, and facilitates 197,545 passengers annually. Ras Al Khaimah International Airport is one of the fastest growing in the Middle East, with the introduction of new national carrier RAK Airways expected to further increase the hub's passenger traffic.

Michelle Soliman, CEO of RAK Airport, says: "We are currently in the process of expanding our passenger terminals. We are creating a new arrivals terminal and refurbishing our existing terminal to serve as the new departures terminal. We are also in the process of constructing a new cargo warehouse, which will be operational in June 2008."