Master planning work is under way on a massive international airport complex – which will form the core of the world’s first integrated logistics and multi-modal transport platform and will eventually have double the passenger handling capacity of Dubai International Airport (DIA).
The Jebel Ali Airport City – as it is known – will be built 40 km from the DIA airport and will cover an area of 140 sq km. It will include not just a state-of-the-art airport, which is billed to be the largest of its kind in the world, but also several smaller cities, which will cater to the financial, industrial, service and tourism industry needs, according to the Dubai Civil Aviation (DCA).
Preliminary work has been launched on the project’s Dh2 billion ($547 million) first phase, which would include two components – Dubai Logistics City (DLC) and a runway for Jebel Ali Airport (JAA).
The City is set to take shape adjacent to the world’s third largest free zone – the Jebel Ali Free Zone and the Jebel Ali Port, which is being further extended to handle 15 million TEUs per annum within more than 100 sq km. The master plan for the City was developed by a Dar Al-Handasah/Aeroports de Paris joint venture.
Initially, the focus will be on meeting the cargo requirements of the port and the free zone. The Airport City complex will facilitate smooth and efficient cargo flows, in turn boosting industrial development around the complex.
“The project is a quantum leap for the logistics business in the Gulf and the greater Middle East and will cater to the region’s requirements up to 2050,” says Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of DCA, which is currently operating DLC on behalf of the Dubai Government.
"This major initiative will allow Dubai International Airport to focus on the development of passenger traffic without suffering from congestion or bottlenecks caused by freight and logistics operations,” he adds.
The airport city will also be connected to Dubai Aid City, Techno Park and Dubai Investment Park, which contain a significant number of new manufacturing plants.
A strategic road network will be developed linking the airport to the various emirates and some of the GCC countries. In addition, the DCA has also laid out plans to link the $4.5 billion Dubai Light Rail project with the DIA and JAA airports and the city centre.
Airport
The airport, which will consist of a number of terminals, six parallel runways, a large area for cargo and two main entrances, will have the capacity to handle 120 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo annually in up to 16 air cargo terminals – all designed to handle the new generation Airbus A380-800F freighter version of the giant airliner. It will start operations in 2007.
The new airport will be encompassed within a carefully designed and integrated ‘city’ that will form the modern hub for aviation and business industries, and simultaneously cater to the general public and tourist.
DLC
Spread over 25 sq km, DLC will also begin operations in 2007. It has been launched following an 18-month feasibility and business realisation study by ADI Services, a division of global logistics consultants ADI Consulting of Switzerland.
DLC will be a free zone and the preferred location for businesses, which require, or offer, logistics and multi-modal transport services to the GCC, wider Middle East, India, Africa and the CIS. All transport modes, logistics and value-added services, including assembly and value-added manufacturing will be located in a single customs bonded and free zone environment.
“Dubai Logistics City will allow companies to integrate their regional manufacturing, sales and support infrastructure and organisation into their global networks,” says Sheikh Ahmed.
DLC will provide: land plots for dedicated industrial businesses, trading companies, distributors and logistics service providers; shared facilities, such as warehouses and offices as well as modern air-side cargo handling facilities.
DLC logistics service providers, who will have exclusive access to air cargo terminal facilities, will also be able to handle the air cargo of Dubai International Airport (DIA).
DIA will be linked to DLC by a bonded and professionally-operated scheduled shuttle service, which will operate several times an hour to connect belly air cargo directly with freighter services or to deliver, round-the-clock, into the heart of the DLC business community.
Besides the DLC, the project will include:
• The Commercial City: The financial and business heart of the airport city, it will include a high-rise area of more than 850 towers (50-300 m in height) and give a breathtaking new skyline to Dubai. This city will play host to leading financial establishments and is expected to become the future financial and business centre.
• The Aviation City: Is foreseen to become the regional headquarters for leading companies working in the aviation industry, including suppliers, maintenance specialists and manufacturers.
• Science and Technology Park: Will serve the industrial and technological sector.
• The Residential City: Encompassing a variety of accommodation from luxury estates and spacious apartments to affordable developments and airport staff housing, the component will include commercial and community services for residents as well.
• The Golf Resort: Once complete, it will be the region’s biggest golf course surrounded by high-rise residential towers as well as villas in form of clusters.
The new Airport City complex is expected to further boost the tourism industry, while its various elements, will make for an integrated, self-contained, self-sustaining facility.
