Abu Dhabi airport to lift capacity

Abu Dhabi Airports Company is to increase its existing airport facilities to cope with a delay in opening the new Midfield Terminal.

Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) will boost the capacity of its existing facilities at Abu Dhabi International Airport to 15 million passengers a year from 12 million over the next five years, to cope with the delay of its Dh25 billion (US$6.8bn) Midfield Terminal. The new terminal, which will be able to handle 20 million passengers a year, is expected to open in the first quarter of 2015. The expansion efforts will help the emirate continue its push into the aviation and tourism industries, which were identified as major economic growth drivers under its 2030 plan, even as it faces a three-year delay in the new terminal.

"From now until the new terminal opens we will continuously enhance the airport from all aspects," said Ahmed al Haddabi, the senior vice president of airports operations at ADAC. The airport operator will make upgrades to existing facilities and introduce new procedures to speed the flow of passengers through the port. The efforts are being made to attract new carriers to the capital and to stay ahead of the growth of its local carrier, Etihad Airways, which plans to triple its fleet to more than 150 aircraft over the next decade.

About 45 international airlines serve Abu Dhabi and connect the capital with 80 destinations. ADAC recently scored coups when the budget carrier AirAsia of Malaysia chose it to become its Middle East destination, and Air France announced it would begin serving the capital from Paris. [e-mail]