Abu Dhabi – An airport terminal able to handle up to 45 million passengers a year will open in Abu Dhabi in November, state media said Thursday, accelerating competition in the crowded Gulf market.<\/p>\n
Terminal A in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates capital, touted as one of the world’s biggest, will be able to accommodate 11,000 travellers per hour and 79 aircraft at a time, according to WAM news agency.<\/p>\n
The new facility, also known as Midfield Terminal Building, “is scheduled to begin operations in early November 2023”, WAM said, as the UAE anticipates a surge in arrivals for the United Nations’ COP28 climate talks in Dubai in November and December.<\/p>\n
The terminal is opening at a time when neighbouring Saudi Arabia is rapidly expanding its airport capacity after announcing a giant new hub in Riyadh which will take up to 120 million travellers by 2030 and 185 million by 2050.<\/p>\n
Abu Dhabi’s 10 million passengers in the first half of this year pales against the traffic in next-door emirate Dubai, a major aviation hub that welcomed 41.6 million over the same period.<\/p>\n
Qatar, another popular transit stop in the wealthy region, completed a multi-billion dollar expansion before last year’s football World Cup and Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah, near Mecca, is growing to 70-80 million capacity by 2035.<\/p>\n
“Covering 742,000 square meters of built-up area, Terminal A is among the largest airport terminals in the world,” WAM said.<\/p>\n
In 2012, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned airport operator signed a 10.8 billion dirham ($2.94 billion) contract with a consortium of firms to build the new terminal.<\/p>\n
It will be the new home of Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national carrier.<\/p>\n
In March, months after announcing Riyadh’s new airport, Saudi Arabia unveiled new airline Riyadh Air and placed an order for 78 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets.<\/p>\n
The Gulf powers, many buoyed by last year’s spike in oil prices, are hurrying to diversify their hydrocarbon-reliant economies before a predicted drop in demand.<\/p>\n
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