Dubai Airports Company is considering building a fourth concourse at Dubai International airport to accommodate the forecast 75 million passengers by 2015.

In 2010, Dubai International recorded 47.2 million passengers so the need to accommodate the large increase is clear. In 2011, the airport is expected to handle 50.9 million passengers.

Dubai Airports Company is currently working on a masterplan for Dubai International that will map out how the airport will accommodate the predicted growth in passengers and cargo volumes.

“One possibility is to build a fourth concourse and this will be connected to terminal one. This allows Emirates to grow [so that] it occupies concourse one, concourse two and concourse three,” says Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports Company.

Concourse three is due to open at the end of 2012 and will consist of 20 dedicated A380 gates.

Dubai International airport recorded total passenger traffic of 12.2 million during the first quarter of 2011.

The passenger terminal at the new Al-Maktoum International airport at Dubai World Central will now not open until 2012. Initially it was due to open in March 2011 and this was then delayed to the final quarter of 2011 (MEED 8:2:11).

Once it is open, the total passenger traffic forecast between both airports is forecast to reach 98.5 million by 2020, while cargo volumes will reach 4.1 million tonnes a year by the same time.