When was dubai airport built

Dubai International Airport has served more than 1. It was not until that work to build an asphalt runway began and then completed two years later. By , Dubai International was served by nine international airlines to 20 destinations. Several developments took place in the s, including a new three-storey terminal building, control tower, additional taxiways and longer runways. The second runway, equipped with the latest technology, was opened in It helped increase passenger capacity from 10 million to 23 million.

Terminal 3 — the exclusive terminal for Emirates Airline -- was launched in In , passenger traffic at Dubai airport reached In , Dubai International welcomed During the s the radio navigation system, instrument landing system, as well as the new building, were constructed. Those and many other renovations allowed the airport to serve nine airlines providing flights to approximately 20 destinations by As the amount of the airfield operations was increasing drastically, the demand for the terminal expansion has arisen.

The ruler of Dubai predicted that and, therefore, in the s the construction of the new terminal consisting of three separate buildings meter-long each together with the new meter-tall control tower was implemented. In , Emirates Airlines began. At the time, it was a simple little outfit, flying a Boeing and a leased A between Dubai and Pakistan. But Emirates would go on to put Dubai Airport and Dubai on the global map.

Also, in the mids, Dubai finished work on its second asphalt runway, one capable of taking the biggest planes. By the end of the s, Dubai Airport was handling nearly five million passengers a year. Of course, being Dubai, they wanted to double this and more.

Ten years later, the airport was handling almost 10 million passengers annually. The era coincided with the development and opening of modern-day Terminal 2 in At the same time, Emirates was roaring along in a kind of symbiotic tryst with Dubai Airport. By the end of the century, Emirates was flying for 50 destinations.

With Terminal 2 up and running and Terminal 1 successfully overhauled the previous decade, Dubai Airport began planning Terminal 3. It was an Emirates dedicated terminal. In its first month of operations, Emirates funneled , passengers through the terminal. By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Dubai Airport had enjoyed an average annual growth in aircraft traffic of In the 12 years between and , passenger traffic through Dubai Airport increased from around 10 million annually to 40 million.

The ramp area of the terminal can accommodate up to 22 small sized private jets, between 8 and 12 medium sized jets, or up to 4 large sized jets such as the Boeing Business Jet BBJ , the Boeing or the Airbus A The cargo village at Dubai International Airport is one of the world's largest and most central cargo hubs, with most of the cargo for Asia and Africa coming through the facility.

Forecasts in for cargo growth predicted that additional major cargo handling facilities were needed to satisfy demands. Plans were put in progress to construct the first stage of the cargo mega terminal, which by will have the ability to handle three million tons of freight. Phase 1 of the cargo mega terminal was completed by and the next phase of expansion was scheduled for completion in late Presently the airport has a cargo capacity of 2. The flower centre is not yet finished and construction will continue in another two phases.

The centre will offer an enhanced level of automation over a five to seven year period for processing flower products. It will begin with a semi-automated system with manual sorting before eventually becoming fully automated. The handling capacity of the centre is expected to be more than , tonnes of product throughput per annum. Dubai Airport has two parallel runways, both m long.

The runways are equipped with four sets of ILS to guide landing aircraft safely under very poor weather conditions.

The runways were recently expanded to accommodate the Airbus A In , it was announced that the airport installed a Category III landing system, allowing planes to land in low visibility conditions, such as fog.

This system will be the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates. In Dubai Airports announced an day runway refurbishment program which will start on 1 May The northern runway will be resurfaced while lighting upgrades and additional taxiways will be built on the southern runway to help boost its capacity.

The southern runway will be closed from 1 May to 31 May , while the northern runway will be closed from 31 May to 20 July Due to extra congestion on one runway, all freighter, charter and general aviation flights will be diverted to Al Maktoum International Airport.

With Dubai-based Emirates Airline being one of the launch customers for the Airbus A and also the largest customer, Dubai airport needed to expand its existing facilities to accommodate the very large aircraft. With the changes made, the airport does not expect embarking and disembarking passengers and baggage from the A to take longer than it does for Boeing s, which carry fewer passengers.

On 16 July , Dubai Airport unveiled the first of two specially-built gates capable of handling the aircraft. The hold rooms themselves have been enlarged to cater for the larger number of passengers flying the As. In addition to the 2 gates at Terminal 1, 5 more Acapable gates were opened at concourse B on 14 October Concourse A opened on 2 January The airport has over 26, m 2 , sq ft of space spread between its three main terminals and includes many shopping and eating outlets.

The Dubai duty-free shopping area in Terminal 2 covers 1, m 2 15, sq ft in departures and 50 m 2 sq ft arrivals. The 3, m 2 37, sq ft extension included a larger arrivals hall as well. Extensive upgrading work on existing retail areas since in Terminals 1 and 2 has increased sales. Dubai Duty Free announced annual sales of Dhs5. In , Dubai Duty Free doubled its retail space from 7, to 15, m 2 75, to , sq ft with the inauguration of the new Emirates Terminal 3 in October Dubai Duty Free recorded more than In addition to a wide array of duty-free shops and eating outlets, Dubai Airport has two open-air garden areas.

Dubai Airport has numerous business centres located around the airport. Within the international transit area of the interconnected Terminals 1 and 2, internet and games facilities, prayer rooms, showers, spas, gym, swimming pool and three hotels are provided. Various lounge areas are provided, some including children's play areas or televisions showing news, movies and sports channels. Services include cargo ramp and technical support services to airlines at Dubai Airport.

Emirates Engineering, based in Dubai, operates the aircraft maintenance and engine test cell technical facilities at the airport. Emirates Engineering currently provides full support for the Emirates Airline fleet and all the other international operations at the airport. The Civil Aviation Authority of Dubai manages the overall safety and security of the airport. Pre-screening takes place in all terminals at the entrance of the airport. In , an upgrade in screening technology and rising security concerns led to luggage-screening processes being conducted behind closed doors, as opposed to them being done just before check-in previously within public view.

Carry-on luggage and personal screening are conducted at the individual departure gates, while check-in luggage are screened in the backrooms and secured before loading. Dubai Airport Police plans to introduce a biometric identification system for access into restricted areas.

In view of the transatlantic aircraft plot, security screening checks have been stepped up on passengers and their hand-carry luggage, as well as checked-in luggage on flights bound for destinations in the United Kingdom and the United States from Dubai. In early , Dubai Airport introduced a new type of airport screening device which not only detected weapons, but also could screen the passenger for drugs in the blood.

With the new system in place, travellers entering Dubai can be jailed for four years or more if found in possession including in the bloodstream and the bottom of the shoes of illegal drugs even in quantities as small as 0. A senior Dubai judge was quoted on 11 February , by the Dubai City News saying, "These laws help discourage anyone from carrying or using drugs.

Even if the amount of illegal drugs found on someone is 0. The penalty is a minimum four years. The message is clear — drugs will not be tolerated. As all passenger traffic out of the airport is international in nature, the three major terminals in operation are equipped with immigration-processing facilities for international travel. Since there are international flights operating out from the airport, the terminals of the airport are equipped with immigration processing facilities and security scanning for all passengers including domestic, and regional passengers.

Terminals 1, and 3 handle 95 per cent of the international flights, whilst Terminal 2 mainly caters to regional flights and international flights routed to other airports in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Emirates Airlines operate from only Terminal 3. Conversely, low cost carriers such as Flydubai operate flights out of terminal 2.

Passenger growth at the airport has been growing at an average rate of 18 per cent. The airport reached its capacity of 33 million passengers per annum by , however this was still not enough to handle the growing over congestion at the airport. As the airport's capacity reached 75 million with the opening of concourse A and expansion of Terminal 2. Passenger traffic for grew by In , India was DXB's biggest destination for passengers rising 7.

Saudi Arabia also saw major growth, with passenger numbers rising 35 per cent to 3,, in Doha remained the top city destination, recording 2,, passengers, an 18 per cent increase in passengers compared to the previous year. London followed it with 2,, passengers. Fueled by high economic growth from Emirates, the airport handled 1,, tonnes of air cargo in , an increase of 5.

Cargo volumes grew an impressive It was the eleventh consecutive month of double-digit growth. The airport is connected by the road D From Deira, the road progresses south-eastward towards Dubai International Airport, intersecting with E Emirates Road past the airport.

The airport is served by the Dubai Metro, which will operate 2 lines through the airport. The metro provides services between and everyday except Friday, when it operates between and These timings differ during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The stations are located in front of both terminals, and can be accessed directly from the arrivals areas. The Green Line will operate from August , at another station in the Airport Free Zone, from which passengers can connect to Terminal 2.

Dubai Buses operated by RTA run a number of routes to the city but mainly Deira , and are available at the Airport Ground Transportation centre and the Arrivals at every terminal. Passengers who need to transfer between Terminal 1 and 3 and Terminal 2 can use the inter-terminal shuttle bus service which operates frequently. Bus stations are situated opposite both Terminal 1, 2, and 3. Local buses 4, 11, 15, 33 and 44 can be used to connect with Terminal 1 and 3, while bus 2 connects with Terminal 2.