The First UAE project management conference was told this morning that work has started on extending the existing runway in Fujairah International Airport to allow a major expansion at the airport to be completed.

General manager of Fujairah Municipality Mohamed al-Afkham said that the ability of the airport to increase traffic volumes had been constrained by safety concerns due to its proximity to the Hajar mountains. He said the emirate had considered building a new airport on the border with Oman and Sharjah and on a reclaimed offshore island. Both options were rejected.

“We have found a good solution which is to extend the runway 900 metres to the east,” al-Afkham said.

The existing runway is 45-metres wide and 3.75 kilometres long with three turning loops and taxiway.

He said the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) had agreed to supervise the project.

Other projects to be completed as part of the airport expansion include the reorganisation of its aprons and the construction of housing and offices.

ADAC and the Department of Civil Aviation for Fujairah, owner and operator of Fujairah International Airport, signed a memorandum of cooperation to create an airport development master plan for the expansion in April 2014.

Fujairah International Airport is the only of the UAE’s five international airports to be located on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It started operations in October 1987 and has the capacity to handle 2 million passengers annually. 

Al-Afkham said Fujairah was emerging as a major oil and transport hub, but its ability to expand was limited due to the shortage of land. Mountains account for more than 80 per cent of its 1,500 square kilometre land area.

The Fujairah 2040 masterplan forecasts that the emirate’s population will rise to 500,000 by 2040 from 150,000 people at present.