Al Maktoum International ready for passenger business

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the sole regulator of all licensed airfields within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has certified Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC) for passenger operations after assessing and confirming full compliance of the aerodrome with its stringent requirements. This paves the way for the planned opening of the new passenger terminal building on October 27, 2013.

In a letter issued by GCAA’s Air Navigation and Aerodrome department last month, the regulator accepted the implementation process for full passenger operations at the new airport and acknowledged the “hard work and commitment of Dubai Airports in achieving the status of full aerodrome operations”.

Regulatory oversight is managed through the close cooperation of Dubai Airports Airside Operations staff who work closely with the GCAA to ensure that all aspects of operations at both Dubai International and Dubai World Central are fully compliant with the highest professional international standards and regulations set out in federal law.

“This is a welcomed and critical step forward in the process of preparing Dubai World Central for full passenger operations,” said Jamal Zaal, vice president of airside operations, Dubai Airports. “We will continue to press ahead with trials that test every system, process and piece of equipment in the new terminal, be it signage, gates or boarding procedures to make sure the new facility is ready to accept passengers on October 27.”

Facility preparations will culminate in advanced passenger trails on October 12, 2013 where the full passenger journey through the new terminal will be tested by some 1,000 members of the travelling public to identify any areas for improvement before its doors open for business. An advanced passenger trial using employees will take place in early this month as a dress rehearsal for the public trials.

Dubai Airports experienced overwhelming support from volunteers in its trial recruitment campaign and was oversubscribed within the first 48 hours. “As was the case with Concourse A trials last year, the support from volunteers has been tremendous which only goes to prove that in Dubai, people are passionate about aviation,” said Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer, Dubai Airports.

The new passenger terminal building is designed to accommodate five to seven million passengers per year. When completed, Dubai World Central will be the largest airport in the world with five runways and capacity for 160 million passengers and 12 million tons of cargo. At the moment only nasair and Wizz Air have confirmed plans to serve the airport but Dubai Airports officials have revealed they are in talks with other carriers about launching flights from the new airport.