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Abu Dhabi International Airport: Building a Premium Airport for the 21st Century

Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) is driving the international gateway concept forward together with other key economic activities such as tourism, real estate, business investment, education, and industrialisation, whilst actively engaging and encouraging the private sector to support and provide specialist services for commercial aviation.

The starting point for all the activity and development ADAC undertakes is to create and maintain a safe and secure environment, which delivers leading speed and efficiency for our airlines and our passengers. This is the foundation on which all other progress is built.

The transformation of Abu Dhabi airport is well under way, and ADAC is now welcoming passengers to the region’s best-in-class facility, the new Terminal 3, which increased the airport’s passenger capacity by five million per year, taking the total annual capacity of the airport to more than 12 million. This interim facility allows the airport to manage the large increases in passenger traffic it is receiving. It is used predominantly by Abu Dhabi’s home-based airline, Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, and the world’s fastest growing airline.

New Terminal 3

At the centre of the passenger experience in Terminal 3 is the new retail environment, managed by DFS. Having officially taken on the management of Abu Dhabi Duty Free from 1 July 2008, DFS managed to bring a wider portfolio of international luxury brands to Abu Dhabi airport.

For the long term, the company wants to create a premium airport in Abu Dhabi with the much-anticipated opening of the Midfield Terminal Complex.

Long recognised as a strategic gateway to the region, Abu Dhabi is increasingly making a name as a dynamic centre for investment, tourism (including Formula One from this year), industry and education. The emirate is taking important strides towards emerging as a city that serves as a key business, tourism, and cultural hub.

ADAC is not only intrinsically linked to that development, but is a clear catalyst for it. The company is fully aware of the commercial opportunities available to it in delivering services and facilities to a growing customer base through a policy of joint venture partnerships, franchises, and concessions, from catering to cargo and business parks.

This proactive strategy involves creating a competitive market for the provision of best-in-class service suppliers. ADAC is looking to work with strategic partners and secure concessions for ‘non-core’ areas of operations and management. ADAC is also seeking to develop - through its technical, management and oversight responsibilities - additional revenue-generating aviation-related facilities in the Abu Dhabi airport and Al Ain economic clusters.

Al Ain Cluster

Al Ain International Airport (AAIA) is the ideal location for low cost and cargo operations, and one of the fastest and most efficient airports in the UAE, being non-congested. Other airport features include no holding patterns, very short taxiway, walk-up apron parking, very fast turn-around times, and personalised and efficient service from award-winning ground handling agent services.

AAIA phase1 projects include a commercial district. It is expected to provide 1,200 affordable staff housing units for the aviation and cargo industry, 300,000 sq feet of office space under both UAE laws and free zone special legislation, and hotel and community services.

The Government of Abu Dhabi mandated the development of an aerospace cluster in Al Ain, including manufacturing, training, and related services. A trans-shipment and redistribution logistics park, which will include 25 million square feet of warehousing space, is under development.

Supporting the tourist and business aspirations of the city and Emirate, a large-scale development programme has been set in motion to transform Abu Dhabi’s airport into a world-class facility. Addressing both the short and long-term needs of the Emirate, the programme will allow the airport to grow beyond 40 million passengers and 2.5 million tonnes of cargo per annum. And once the new Midfield Terminal is open, the airport will be able to handle up to 20 million passengers per annum - a six-fold growth compared to its original design capacity of 3.5 million.

The construction of the airport’s second runway was completed in October 2008. Situated in parallel to the existing airstrip at a distance of 2km, the new 4,100m runway is A-380 compatible. It will soon be supported by a new air traffic control complex. Sitting between the two runways, the new control tower is due to be operational in 2009.

The development of the airport’s cargo capabilities will be central to the growth of Abu Dhabi as a key business hub, and the new cargo terminal, due for completion in 2011, will boost the airport’s present level of more than 400,000 tons in 2008 to a 2.5 million ton facility over the next decade.

Midfield Terminal Complex

The MTC will be located between the airport’s two runways, given its name. This allows for the quickest possible journey from runway to stand, resulting in a smoother experience for the Terminal’s passengers.

Terminal buildings

The MTC’s terminal building will be the largest in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and one of the region’s most architecturally impressive structures. It will be 580,000 square metres in size, and visible from more than 1.5km away. The central space of the terminal building could hold three full-sized football pitches, and features a ceiling 52m tall at its highest point.

The complex will include 20,000-25,000 square metres of retail and food and beverage outlets, roughly equivalent to the current size of Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi. These are set around an 8,000 square metre indoor park, another first for the region, which will host Mediterranean plants and features at its centre, and desert landscapes at its edge.

Associated support buildings take up an additional 800,000 square metres, and will include access to 16-20 aircraft parking stands dedicated to cargo.

Development

Developing the MTC are a multicultural team from across the world, including experts who played critical roles in some of the most important airport developments of recent years, such as Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

Environmental consultants have played an important part in making the MTC an environmentally friendly building. It has been designed to minimise its impact on the environment, making use of design elements such as specially designed and angled glass to avoid heat from entering the building, making air conditioning more efficient.

The outdoor car park will also be covered with photo-voltaic cells to provide electricity for the building, and water will be conserved by using grey water for irrigation of outdoor plants. Developers work closely with the Masdar initiative, whose zero-carbon city is being developed adjacent to the airport, to share ideas and techniques.

Contact information

www.adac.ae

 

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