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Dubai: Dubai is set
to unveil by the year-end a new airport terminal, which can even
pass off as a mini city going by the facilities, exclusively for
super jumbo Airbus A380 aircraft.
As many as 20 A380 aircraft can dock all together at the new
building, being built at a cost of $3 billion adjacent to Terminal
3, which caters exclusively to Emirates airline and is touted as
the largest such facility in the world.
To give a glimpse into the sheer scale of operation, each of these
gigantic birds can ferry 853 passengers in a single-class
configuration. Emirates, the flag carrier of Dubai, has ordered
over 90 such aircraft.
"Concourse 3 will have two luxury hotels, first and business class
lounges, a large duty free area, food courts, restaurants and a
host of other features," said Khalifa Suhail Al Zaffin, executive
chairman of Dubai World Central that overseas the airport.
"The new terminal will take our capacity to around 75 million
passengers. We hope to unveil it in the next few months," Al
Zaffin, whose organisation is mandated to make Dubai an aviation
metropolis, told IANS.
Another unique feature will be the automated people mover -- a
driverless train to ferry passengers between Terminal 3 and
Concourse 3. It will also boast the largest deployment of sky
trains for people to move across the 11 floors of the terminal.
"Most of the structural work is complete. The work is now on by
world-class companies in areas like airport systems, security and
communications solutions and the rest of the internal
infrastructure," Al Zaffin said after a site visit.
Among them is Thales, the French defence, aerospace and civilian
technology major. In the area of security, for example, it has a
provision to control 10,000 access control points and 1,500
surveillance cameras in Terminal 2, which would handle 70 million
passengers annually.
"The same ultra-modern communications and security solution are
being installed at the new airport terminal to ensure highest
quality of safety and security to the operator and passengers,"
said Eric Lenseigne, managing director, Thales India.
"For more than 15 years, we have been making some of the world's
major airports a safer place for all with our large-scale
integrated systems and services that also meet the evolving needs
of operators," Lenseigne added.
Said Al Zaffin: "Airport security must be ever vigilant. But for
passengers, it must also be the least obtrusive. That's what we
have aspired for in Dubai."
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