Dubai plans massive airport expansion

Dubai Airports has been given the go-ahead to launch a US$7.8 billion airport and airspace expansion programme which will boost capacity at Dubai International from 60 million to 90 million passengers per year by 2018.

The plan is designed to deliver aviation infrastructure which will generate 22 percent of total employment and 32 percent of the emirate's GDP by 2020.

Additional aircraft movements will be accommodated on the ground with the addition of a new taxiway and a 60 percent increase in the number of stands needed to park and service aircraft.

Beyond Concourse 3, which will boost capacity to 75 million passengers when it is completed at the end of 2012, Dubai Airports will commission the construction of additional terminal space and concourse areas comprising an extra 675,000sqm of floor space - twice the footprint of London Heathrow Terminal 5.

This includes the expansion of Terminal 2 and the construction of a new concourse - Concourse 4 - which will be connected to Terminal 1 to facilitate check-in and baggage servicing.