Dubai in discussions with credit suppliers for airport project

09 November 2015

Dubai’s finance department discussing options with various credit agencies

  • No new developments on the project funding so far
  • Project is estimated to cost $32bn
  • Airport will have annual passenger handling capacity of 200 million upon completion

Discussions are still ongoing between Dubai’s Finance Department and various international credit agencies for the funding required for the $32bn expansion of the Al-Maktoum International airport.

“Discussions are still ongoing… we are not aware of any new developments at this point,” Dubai Airport Chief Executive Paul Griffiths told MEED on the sidelines of the Dubai Airshowon 9 November.

The UK Export Finance is one of the entities that are engaged in a discussion with the Finance Department. The UK offered $2bn worth of export credit guarantees to the Dubai Airports Engineering Projects (DAEP), the client for the project, in 2014, although no decision has been reached on how the funding will be used.

In October, Italian export credit agency Sace signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC) to provide €1bn ($1.14bn) of credit for the Dubai South development, which includes Al-Maktoum International.

When completed, the airport will have the capacity to handle 200 million passengers a year, making it the largest airport in the world.

It will be built in two phases. The first phase includes two satellite buildings with a collective capacity of 120 million passengers a year, and capable of accommodating 100 A380 aircraft at any one time. It will take between six and eight years to complete. The entire development will cover an area of 56 square kilometres.

The development will provide the necessary facilities to accommodate passenger and cargo growth and will also allow Emirates to relocate their intercontinental hub operations to the new airport by the mid-2020s.

 

 

 

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