Official deadline set for 17 July in four years time
The new Midfield Terminal Complex at Abu Dhabi airport will be open for passengers by 17 July 2017, according to Abu Dhabi Airports Company chief executive officer Tony Douglas.
He pinpointed the exact time of the opening at 7.00 in the morning.
Within the first year of operation the terminals capacity is expected to reach 30 million passengers. Totalling 700,000 square-metres in size, the terminal is one and half times bigger than Dubai International airports Terminal 3 and London Heathrows Terminal 5.
Douglas confirmed the opening date following the completion of a major milestone for the terminal on 20 October, with the placement of the first buttress for the steel arches that will support the facilitys roof. According to Douglas, this milestone was reached seven days ahead of the original schedule.
During a site visit, Douglas said that publicly setting construction deadlines is essential for the development of the project.
Making commitments about milestones is really important as an organisation we will have nowhere to hide because everyone is going to see this, and we will either do it or we wont. Failure is unacceptable and not an option, he said.
Construction of the new terminal began last year after the award of the construction packages to a consortium of Arabtec Construction, Turkeys TAV and Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company in June 2012.
Up until the placement of the buttress, the construction work has focused on the basement level works at the terminal. With work now beginning on the ground floor and eventually the roof, the new terminal will now be visible from the nearby motorway.
What was Abu Dhabis better-kept secret will now become a spectator sport, says Douglas.
The terminal is being built solely for Abu Dhabis Etihad Airways to cater for the airlines growing passenger volumes. Airlines will codeshare or equity agreements with the airline will also use the terminal. Other airlines will continue to use the existing terminals 1 and 2.
The Midfield terminal is being developed at the same time as Dubai is expanding its airport capacity with the opening of the new Al-Maktoum airport at Dubai World Central close to Jebel Ali port.
Douglas says the Abu Dhabis new terminal will not be affected by Dubais expansion plans.
Given the fact that Etihad dont fly out of either of those airports [Al Maktoum or Dubai International] the impact will be zero. The facilities we are building are very much for the growth of Etihad. They have done such a fantastic job at growing their business in recent years we simply cant keep up .We cant get it completed quick enough.
The new terminal has also been designed to accommodate the construction of a light rail or metro station as Abu Dhabi develops its public transport systems in the coming years.
Weve actively safeguarded in the basement for a station box We know exactly where it will connect into the building, he says.
The terminal is already set to be one of the biggest in the world, but Douglas says that three years after the 2017 opening, further expansion plans are likely to be considered, depending on Etihad Airways maintaining the same rate of growth.
You might also like...
McDermott completes financial restructuring exercise
28 March 2024
Region heads for hotel boom
28 March 2024
Lowest bidders emerge for Kuwait housing project
28 March 2024
Redcon wins Red Sea Triple Bay infrastructure deal
28 March 2024
A MEED Subscription...
Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.