Dubai, Apr 11 (Emirates 247) : More than 300 flights per week are expected to be relocated to Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central (DWC) in Jebel Ali during the 80-day runway refurbishment of Dubai International Airport starting May 1, 2014.
Dubai Airports said DWC will also serve as an alternate airport should any flight be diverted due to bad weather or any other delays at Dubai International (DXB).
So far, 17 airlines including flydubai, have confirmed their intent to temporarily relocate their services to Dubai’s second airport from May 1 to July 29. During this period, Dubai International Airport’s two runways will be closed consecutively for refurbishment and upgrades that will ensure Dubai Airports is able to maintain its high safety standards as well as increase the capacity of the two runways.
“Having tested the new passenger terminal at DWC to its full capacity during the advanced passenger trail in October last year, we are comfortable that we are able to accommodate this sharp increase in traffic,” said Damien Bolton, Head of Operational Readiness at Dubai Airports.
“We have also implemented better processes at key passenger touch points such as check-in, security and immigration,” says Bolton. Automatic tray return machines have been introduced at DWC’s security points while a special check-in added for passengers travelling with hand baggage only.
On April 30, Dnata will have to move equipment overnight to DWC to ensure they are ready to receive flights that have relocated from Dubai International. “Again, we don’t foresee any problems as dnata have already had a dry run during the Dubai Airshow which required a similarly rapid redeployment of equipment and people,” said Bolton.
“We will also be using the airshow building to process passengers should any flights be diverted. It will allow passengers whose final destination is Dubai to clear immigration while those with connecting flights to be flown or bussed back to Dubai International,” says Bolton.
To help the smooth connection between the two airports Dubai Airports will introduce a luxury bus service for passengers connecting between the two airports.
“We continue to fine tune our planning for the runway closure but we are comfortable that DWC will be ready,” said Bolton.