The Government of Dubai's ambitious development plan to make Dubai International Airport one of the world's leading aviation hubs will be…
The Government of Dubai's ambitious development plan to make Dubai International Airport one of the world's leading aviation hubs will be highlighted by an exhibition creating a lucrative Middle East showcase for suppliers later this month.
Taking place at Airport Expo Dubai from May 28-30, the Airport Build & Supply Exhibition is being held under the patronage of H.H.Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Government of Dubai's Department of Civil Aviation.
The DCA has commissioned the exhibition, organised by Streamline Marketing, as an important element in the decision-making process for the $1.4 billion next phase of development at Dubai International Airport.
Sheikh Ahmed said: "We have prepared a blueprint that will secure Dubai International Airport's status as one of the world's most sophisticated gateways of the 21st century.
"The Department of Civil Aviation is committed to ensuring that the second phase of our airport development programme is built to the most advanced and aesthetic specifications possible.
"The defining element of all our procurement activities related to the project will be to match the highly acclaimed standards that have become the hallmarks of all major infrastructure developments in the emirate."
He added: "The exhibition will provide participating companies with a unique platform to meet project decision-makers and showcase their products, services and technologies. In addition, the Department of Civil Aviation and our appointed consultants will schedule private meetings with exhibitors during the event to discuss design, construction, and supply requirements."
Visitors to the exhibition will include officials from other airports across the Middle East where major expansion and construction is taking place.
Joanne Evans, director of Streamline Marketing, said: "A huge amount of airport development is under way, not only in Dubai, but across the region, making participation at the exhibition essential for suppliers of equipment and services needed by airports."
In addition to Dubai, major Middle East airport projects under way, or planned, according to the Middle East Economic Digest, are at Algiers ($300 million), Cairo ($400m), Hurghada ($100m) and Sharm El Sheikh ($100m) in Egypt, Libya ($56m), Seeb and Salalah in Oman ($100 – $150m), Doha ($450m), Jeddah ($500-$750m), Tunisia ($244m), and Abu Dhabi ($600m). Others are planned at Luxor, Imam Khomeini, Iran, Damascus, and at the Farara oasis in Egypt's Western Desert.
The Airport Build & Supply Exhibition line-up will include suppliers of a massive range of equipment and services, from escalators, elevators, and moving walkways, to security and lighting systems, telecommunications, automated baggage systems, fixtures and fittings, signage and graphics, first and business class lounges, leisure facilities, aircraft hangers, fire stations and fighting equipment, cargo handling equipment, airfield lighting systems, radar and air navigation systems, as well as runways with high-speed exit taxiways.
The exhibition highlights a new era in aviation in Dubai, with the recent opening of Sheikh Rashid Terminal at Dubai International Airport now being followed by the $1.4 billion design and construction of a third terminal, including a second concourse and a Mega Cargo Terminal.
With a current capability to handle 22 million passengers a year, a figure expected to touch 30 million by 2010, the airport is in fact being developed to meet the needs of travellers and airlines as far as head as 2030.
Second phase preparations are well under way, and the exhibition becomes an ideal forum for the selection of highly qualified suppliers and contractors for its detailed design, implementation and supply.
The second phase of the Dubai International Airport expansion involves more than 20 projects relating to the construction, fitting out and equipping of a number of major new facilities.
Terminal 3 is an innovatively designed underground facility incorporating departure and arrival halls, and car parking, a 920m long, 27-gate concourse capable of handling the largest aircraft, and including a Duty Free shopping mall, lounges, cafes, restaurants, hotel, swimming pool, health and other leisure facilities
The Mega Cargo Terminal is part of a master plan to create a 3 million tonnes per annum facility and will feature state-of-the-art computerised systems and handling equipment, loading dock and offices.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
