Abu Dhabi sets new date for airport terminal operation

08 March 2017

Passenger traffic growth at Abu Dhabi International declined in 2016

The Abu Dhabi International airport’s Midfield Terminal Complex  is expected to open in 2019, two years later than planned.

Various sources told MEED last year that the project could be delayed and will likely open in July or October 2019. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed, deputy chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council (Adec), has recently confirmed that the terminal will open in 2019.

Annual growth in passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International declined from 23 per cent in 2015 to 5.1 per cent in 2016.

Despite the slower growth, the volume of passengers processed by the airport, which stood at 24.48 million passengers in 2016, significantly exceeded the existing airport’s capacity of 17.5 million.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has also announced an ongoing organisational restructuring, with its long-time group chief executive James Hogan set to step down in mid-2017.

The $2.9bn Midfield Terminal Complex is currently being built between the two runways of Abu Dhabi International. It is designed to handle up to 30 million passengers a year.

The Midfield Terminal Complex will feature 27km of baggage-handling conveyors with a capacity to process 19,000 bags an hour. It aims to offer 45-minute connection times including baggage transfers. The terminal is also expected to feature more than 4,300 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

It was jointly designed by the US’ Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), Ove Arup (UK), Naco (Netherlands) and BNP Associates (India).

A joint venture of Turkey’s TAV Construction and Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) won the main civils contract worth AED10.5bn ($2.9bn) in June 2012.

The airport operator, Abu Dhabi Airports Company, has said it is seeking interest from subcontractors who can provide trolley management services, run its staff canteen and supply and install office furniture at the new terminal.

 

 

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