As Anita Mehra, senior vice president, communications and reputation, Dubai Airports, disclosed, every month, an average of seven million people travel through Dubai International on more than 100 airlines to 240 destinations around the world.
“For a significant number of those passengers, Dubai International is their only experience of Dubai as they spend a few hours here on transit.
We believe that their experience at the airport has a major influence on their idea of what Dubai would be like [...],” explained Mehra, saying that since Dubai International caters to the most diverse clientele imaginable, initiatives range from the expansion of infrastructure to offering the widest range in dining, retail as well as relaxation.
“At Dubai Airports, we believe that our planning should ensure that traffic plays catch-up with capacity rather than the other way round as it ensures unhindered growth and better airport experience for our customers,” emphasised Mehra.
“Accordingly, we have timed our expansion plans to keep ahead of the traffic growth at the airport.
Even before Dubai was chosen as the venue to host Expo2020, we had announced the USD7.8 billion Strategic Plan (SP) 2020 under which Dubai International’s annual capacity was to increase to 100 million passengers and the Dubai World Central (DWC) expansion plans were already under review to accommodate projected growth.
We completed the SP 2020 earlier this year when we opened the USD1.2 billion facility Concourse D increasing our annual capacity from 75 to 90 million passengers.”
In line with the projected developments, Dubai Airports recently revealed plans to boost the capability of DWC from six million travellers to 26 million.
As Mehra disclosed, the expanded facility is expected to open in 2018, and is a precursor to the USD32 billion project to create the world’s biggest airport.
As Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports, revealed, this year some 85 million travellers are expected to use the hub and all in all, by 2020, 100 million passengers are set to land in and take off from Dubai.
Likewise, at Hamad International Airport (HIA,) where international passenger volumes rose a whopping 17.3 percent to 30.9 million in 2015, a range of smart features are being introduced in a bid to grant travellers more control and independence.
To improve efficiency and reduce waiting time, from check-in to boarding, every step of the journey is set to become self-service enabled complementing an immersive experience.
“The latest passenger processing and security technologies are either already deployed or being trialled to maintain and boost our position as one of the best airports in the world,” ensured Badr Mohammed Al Meer, chief operating officer, HIA.
In fact, according to a Frost & Sullivan report, globally some USD12.67 billion is expected to be allocated for airport security by 2023, up from USD8.22 billion in 2014.
In line with this, HIA was one of the first airfields to roll out home printed bag tags and is now gearing up to introduce its next generation common-use self-service check-in and bag drop. In the future, the airfield is also planning to add enhanced options, such as excess baggage payment, ability to purchase upgrades and access to lounges.
Doha’s hub is already home to 63 automated border control e-gates for enrolled nationals and permanent residents and negotiations are underway to extend these offerings to the broader travelling public.
Trials have also been successfully completed for self-boarding gates and the management initiated dialogue with government authorities and other stakeholders to pioneer a vision for a single-token based procedure that would ensure the ultimate travel experience by eliminating the need to present the same documentation at touch points.
Abu Dhabi International Airport is not lagging behind either – neither in traffic growth or technological advancement.
Having handled more than 23 million travellers in 2015, up 17.2 percent year-on-year, the UAE capital’s hub remains a key driving force in the emirate’s Economic Vision 2030.
Currently under development, the Midfield Terminal Complex (MTC) is set to bring capacity to 45 million annual passengers, almost double of the current figure.
In recent years, the airport has proved to be a trailblazer in terms of modernisation and innovation, becoming the first airfield in the region to automate all passenger processes, allowing travellers to go through all steps, from check in to aircraft boarding, without having any human contact.
To successfully implement its smart travel initiative, Abu Dhabi Airports teamed up with SITA and as El Assaad revealed, the technology expert is now working to complete the airport management solution in the airfield’s MTC, which will significantly simplify operations, while also improving profitability.
Works are also in process in the three existing terminals to bring all IT procedures in line with the systems applied at MTC.
As El Assaad further disclosed, as part of a five-year deal, a range of advanced and fully integrated systems are being installed, enabling the thorough use of real-time information, meaning that operations teams will be able to effectively prepare and react to possible events before they even occur.
To enhance the overall experience, new traveller document authentication solutions are being used which not only lift security levels, but also accelerate passenger processing and reduce waiting lines.
All these developments demonstrate how Middle Eastern airports strive to become the smartest and most advanced hubs in the world as they prepare to handle record number of travellers year after year with global passenger level set to rise to 7.3 billion by 2034.
