INTRODUCTION

The objective of this report is to have a better and in-depth understanding on an airport,

airport systems and the airport planning. In this report, Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport is

taken as a case study. Part one of this report explains the characteristics of the Dubai Al Maktoum

International Airport and the suggestions on how to finance the airport expansion project and the

corresponding ownership model. Second part of this report will describe the airport plan including

all the key features of the airport such as the terminal building concept, runways configuration and

taxiways network.

OVERVIEW

Al Maktoum International Airport, also known as Dubai World Central (DWC) in Jebel Ali

centrally located within the UAE which serves as a gateway to dynamic markets connected to all

major roadways, industrial and trade centres of Dubai. Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) is

the second biggest airport in Dubai after the Dubai International Airport (DXB). It elevates Dubai’s

position as the region’s premier aviation and logistics hub.

Al Maktoum International Airport is having a huge expansion and will become the biggest in

the world once it is completed. The expansion of the Al Maktoum International Airport consists of

two phases. Phase one of the airport expansion has been completed and in operation. The second

phase of expansion projected to finish in the year 2030 and it will accommodate 220 million

passengers a year. According to the government, the cost for the entire expansion is estimated at

more than US$32 billion which will also be the most expensive airport expansion in the world.

Difficulties in raising finance and sluggish scheduled airline traffic have delayed the expansion

process to the year 2030 which was supposed to be completed earlier.

PART 1
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DUBAI AL MAKTOUM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Al Maktoum International Airport (IATA: DWC, ICAO: OMDW)

geographically located at 24°53′17.80″N 55°9′37.36″E and

170ft/52m above sea level with UTC +04:00 time zone

officially opened for cargo operations in June 2010 followed

by commercial passenger flights in October 2013. The airport

is connected to Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone by a bonded

road which cuts transfer times significantly. Al Maktoum

International Airport is classified as a Commercial Service

Airport and positioned as a Primary Hub Airport and located

40km from Dubai International Airport. The airport is owned

by the Government of Dubai and operated by Dubai Airports

Company. Al Maktoum International airport features one A380 capable 4500m length X 60m width

CAT III-C runway (Direction Code: 12/30), 64 remote stands, one cargo terminal with annual

capacity for 250,000 tonnes of cargo and a passenger terminal building designed to accommodate 5

million passengers per year.

To meet projected air traffic and passenger growth, Dubai Airports has commenced an

expansion project to develop the Al Maktoum International Airport. This will increase airline and

passenger capacity with improved facilities. The US$32 billion expansion project will turn the Al

Maktoum International Airport into the world’s largest airport by size and passenger capacity by

2030. It is expected that it will be capable of handling more than 220 million passengers and

approximately 16 million tonnes of cargo per year. The expansion will take place in two phases.

The initial phase of the expansion is moreover sub-divided into 2 sub-phases, the initial of

which will develop new terminal facilities, two satellite concourses which will feature 200-wide
body aircraft (Code E & F) contact stands and a satellite terminals which has a handling capacity of

35 million passengers a year on the west end of the airport, and broadening present facilities. The

second sub-phase will broaden and build two parallel 4.5km long Code F runways with Cat IIIB ILS,

site grading, roads, and tunnels.

The second phase will see the construction of two more runways with similar dimensions

and capabilities, increasing the total number of runways at the airport to five. A new terminal will

be constructed on the east side of the airport. Two new concourses, each with a passenger

handling capacity of 65 million passengers a year, will also be constructed. A further six train tracks

and seven stations will connect the terminals and the concourses. According to the press release on

7th September 2014 by the Government of Dubai, once the expansion projects completed in phases

over the years, the airport characteristics will be as listed below:-

 Five parallel Code F runways of 4.5 Km each in length spaced wide apart in order to provide
for simultaneous quadruple parallel aircraft approaches.
 The first all-weather, Instrument Landing System (Cat IIIB) which allows operations under
low visibility conditions.
 Triple Code F parallel taxiway system next to the two runways on either side of the central
terminal area. Triple Code F cross field taxiways across the central terminal area in order to
minimize taxiing distances and time.
 Critical aircraft box dimensions of 85m x 85m that cater for the new generation expanded
aircraft versions from the leading manufacturers of Airbus and Boeing.
 Apron design encompassing dual Code F push back taxi lanes for each contact stand.
 Two Terminal facilities on either side of the airport site, West and East, providing a capacity
for over 50 million O/D passengers in total. Entrance to the two terminals will be provided
through State-of-the-Art developments at the access points of the International hub.
 Four Satellite Concourses featuring an innovative triple-plus layout 2.8 km long
encompassing three nodes, each, having the size of 7 football fields.
  Concourses, each with 100 wide body aircraft contact stands and 65 million capacity,
totalling over 220 million passenger’s capacity for the entire airport with over 400 wide
body contact stands.
 Innovative Concourse functional design aiming to raise passenger experience to new levels,
never-before experienced at any airport.
 An outstanding 6 track Automated People Mover system, connecting the airport’s two
Terminals with its four Satellite Concourses designed in such a way, that allows the arriving
and departing passengers to reach their destinations on a fast travel journey, as well as, the
transferring passengers to circulate between concourses in a set Minimum Connect Time,
thus enabling them to board their next flight, efficiently, timely and comfortably, with the
added advantage of enjoying the state of the art airport offerings.
 Efficient City rail Network that enables express service for passengers who check in a drop
their bags in town travel straight to the airport. The City rail network will also provide
convenience for all commuter passengers / employees to reach their place of work at the
airport.
 A massive 40 km subterranean road network with multiple lanes, being the operational
backbone of the airport, connecting the huge Support facilities area on the North, to the
Central Terminal Area and the Cargo area to the South of the site.
 The most advanced Automated Global Logistics System ever used at an airport, featuring a
gigantic scale baggage handling system, never-before encountered in the world. A system
featuring a network targeted for full connectivity within the airport’s massive site and
enabling high speed responsive transport of goods, cargo, baggage, catering, spare parts
etc., between the four corners of the site.
 A massive 8 square km Cargo facility area at the south of the site, supported by the Quick
Cargo Transfer Facilities.
 A more than 5 square km state of the art Maintenance Facilities and Airport Support
Infrastructure area, providing all the necessary facilities to maintain and operate the airport.
 Huge landside commercial area, providing for Hotel and Shopping Mall development to
support the airport operations.

WAYS TO FINANCE THE AIRPORT EXPANSION PROJECT

 An airport seeking to expand their facilities, or their airport must raise enough fund to

finance the development projects. There are few major sources which can be adopted to fund the

development:

I. Governmental or international organisation loans and grants

II. Commercial loans from financial institutions

III. Equity financing or debt from commercial capital markets

IV. Extension of credit from contractors or suppliers

V. Airport Improvement Program (AIP)

VI. Local Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs)

VII. Tax-exempt bonds

VIII. State and local grants

IX. Airport operating revenue from tenant lease and other revenue-generating activities

such as landing fees.

I would suggest equity financing by issuing shares to welcome more investors. Equity

financing carries no repayment obligation and provides extra working capital that can be used to

develop the airport. This will inject the airport with cash and profits the investors to make a high

return. This will cut out the banks as a business partner and instead of repaying the loan with

higher interest rate, we can use the infusion from equity investors to fund the development and

run the airport. It is a long-term solution and helps investors to gain a good return for medium- and

long-term growth. For the airports benefit, we would not require returning their original

investment in the event of the project collapses. Meanwhile we could merge with another airport

or conduct a public stock offering which would then allow investors to sell their stock on the open

market.
CORRESPONDING OWNERSHIP MODEL

Mainly there are four different models of airport ownership:

1. Government owned and control

2. Government owned with decentralised control

3. Mixed public-private ownership and control

4. Privately owned and operate

Al Maktoum International Airport falls in the Government owned and control model. The

airport is owned by the Government of Dubai and operated by Dubai Airports Company. Due to this

model, the government had difficulties in raising fund to finance the expansion project. Slower

Dubai’s economic growth, sluggish scheduled airline traffic, fallout from geopolitical tensions and

low oil price has contributed to the funding factors and delay of the expansion process.

To overcome this issue, I would suggest the Al Maktoum International Airport to approach

the Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) concept which falls in mixed public-private ownership and control

model, whereby the developer commits to the financing, design and construction of the facility,

managing and maintaining the facility adequately, and making it sufficiently profitable for a

specified number of years (known as the "free use period"), after which it transfers the facility over

to the government. The developer secures return of investment by operating the facility and during

the concession period, the developer acts as owner. At the end of the concession period, the

developer transfers the ownership of the facility free of liens to the government at no cost.
Advantages of BOT:

1) Use of private sector financing to provide new sources of capital which reduces
governments borrowing and taking loans from financial institutions with higher interest rate
which may tarnish the governments credit rating.
2) Ability to accelerate the development of projects that would otherwise have to wait for and
compete for sovereign resources.
3) It allows innovation where developer brings in best contractors possible when developing
the infrastructure allowing passengers benefits using advance technologies which included
in the project.
4) Initiative using of private sector capitol to reduce the cost, shorten project schedules and
improve operating efficiency.
5) Private sector takes the burden and project risk that would otherwise be borne by the
government.
6) The involvement of private sponsors and experienced commercial lenders which ensure an
in-depth review and is an additional sign of project feasibility.
7) Technology transfer, the training of local personnel and the development of national capital
markets.
8) Government retention of strategic control over the project.
9) Opportunity to establish a private benchmark against which the efficiency of similar
government sector projects can be measured and the associated opportunity to enhance
public management infrastructure facilities.
PART 2 - AIRPORT PLAN

Source: https://www.airport-suppliers.com/dubai-plans-spend-36-billion-worlds-biggest-airport/

BUILDING CONCEPT

Al Maktoum International Airport designed to be the world’s largest meeting point for

people and aircraft. It will consist of two terminals on either side of the airport site, West and East.

The terminal roof filters the natural light. Four Satellite Concourses featuring an innovative triple-

plus layout 2.8 km long encompassing three nodes, each, having the size of 7 football fields.

Concourses, each with 100 wide body aircraft contact stands and 65 million capacity, totalling over

220 million passenger’s capacity for the entire airport with over 400 wide body contact stands.

Innovative Concourse functional design aiming to raise passenger experience to new levels, never-

before experienced at any airport. The apron design encompassing dual Code F push back taxi lanes

for each contact stand. It is a modular and flexible design making it easy to build and reducing
construction and maintenance costs. The sustainable design and the use of photovoltaic technology

made Al Maktoum International Airport the first-ever carbon neutral airport. It also reduces water

consumption by 70%, produce 30% of used energy by photovoltaic, send zero waste to landfills and

energy reduction and regeneration. The new airport is equipped with a 91m-high air traffic control

(ATC) tower which is an aviation landmark and the tallest freestanding ATC tower in the Middle

East. The ATC tower is equipped with the latest avionics and navigational aids.

The new design of Al Maktoum International Airport is simple, efficient, intuitive and

customer-centric. Despite the scale and size, connection times and average walking distances are

kept to a minimum. An outstanding 6 track Automated People Mover system, connecting the

airport’s two Terminals with its four Satellite Concourses designed in such a way, that allows the

arriving and departing passengers to reach their destinations on a fast travel journey, as well as, the

transferring passengers to circulate between concourses in a set Minimum Connect Time, thus

enabling them to board their next flight, efficiently, timely and comfortably, with the added

advantage of enjoying the state of the art airport offerings. Cutting edge passenger-enabled

technologies are embedded within optimised airport design and simplified processes. Departing

passengers are separated from their baggage as early as possible including off-airport locations, and

arriving passengers are reunited with their baggage as conveniently as possible.

The airport will be fully integrated into Dubai’s transit system such as DWC Internal Metro,

Etihad Rail, Commuter Line, Dubai Metro & Express Line ensuring that each passengers journey

from origin to destination is effortless. A massive 40 km subterranean road network with multiple

lanes, being the operational backbone of the airport, connecting the huge Support facilities area on

the North, to the Central Terminal Area and the Cargo area to the South of the site.
 Al Maktoum International Airport will also feature the most advanced Automated Global

Logistics System ever used at an airport, featuring a gigantic scale baggage handling system, never-

before encountered in the world. A system featuring a network targeted for full connectivity within

the airport’s massive site and enabling high speed responsive transport of goods, cargo, baggage,

catering, spare parts etc., between the four corners of the site. A massive 8 square km Cargo facility

area at the south of the site, supported by the Quick Cargo Transfer Facilities; more than 5 square

km state of the art Maintenance Facilities and Airport Support Infrastructure area, providing all the

necessary facilities to maintain and operate the airport; and huge landside commercial area,

providing for Hotel and Shopping Mall development to support the airport operations is also part of

the expansion project.

RUNWAY CONFIGURATION

Al Maktoum International Airport will be served by five parallel Code F runways, each

separated by a minimum distance of 800m in order to provide for simultaneous quadruple aircraft

approaches. The runways will be 4.5km long. It will be equipped with the first all-weather,

Instrument Landing System (Cat IIIB) which allows operations under low visibility conditions. The

benefits of having more parallel runway is the airport can support substantially more operations,

both take-off and landings. If one runway has an issue, like an aircraft stuck on the runway, the

other runway should still be available for operations. Al Maktoum International Airport runways are

divided by the four satellite concourses into 3 runways and 2 runways on each side, east and west.

This allows to the runways operates independently on each side with two ATC’s.
TAXIWAY NETWORK

Triple Code F parallel taxiway system next to the two runways on either side of the central

terminal area. Triple Code F cross field taxiways across the central terminal area in order to

minimize taxiing distances and time.

REFERENCES

1. https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/dubai-world-central-al-maktoum-international-

airport-opens-on-27-june-2010-29385

2. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/dubai-new-airport/index.html

3. http://daep.gov.ae/press-release/al-maktoum-international-phase-1/

4. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43327.pdf

5. https://brandongaille.com/13-build-own-operate-transfer-advantages-and-disadvantages/

6. https://www.slideshare.net/satishkambaliya/botbuild-operate-transfer

7. https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-a-dual-parallel-

runway