Dubai airport projects 85m passengers in 2016 as Concourse D opens

New facility boosts the airport’s capacity to 90 million

The new $1.2bn Concourse D opened at Dubai International on Wednesday, increasing the airport’s capacity from 75 million to 90 million.

The opening of the new facility follows months of testing and an operational trial that involved 2,000 members of the public earlier this month.

The first flight that arrived at the facility was British Airways’ flight 105 from London Heathrow airport.

Dubai Airports confirmed that two airlines will operate from Concourse D on day one (British Airways, Royal Jordanian) with the remainder phasing in operations over the next several weeks.

In total, the facility will cater to 70 international airlines.

“We continue to invest in the development of top-flight infrastructure to augment service levels for our international airlines and their customers while providing the capacity needed to meet growing demand,” said chairman of Dubai Airports and president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

“Concourse D has been designed with the customer at its heart. Shorter walking distances, more comfortable seating areas, more choice in lounges and a world-class retail and F&B offering are sure to impress and delight our passengers and our airline partners.”

Spread across 150,000 square metres, the new facility is linked to the newly renovated Terminal 1 by an airport train that can transport 300 passengers per trip.

Food and beverage outlets include a The Kitchen – a casual dining concept offering dishes from celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, the first Pret a Manger in a Middle East airport, the region’s first Camden Food Company outlet, a Butlers Chocolate Café and a CNN News Cafe among others.

In terms of retail, Dubai Duty Free has a total of 175 vendor installations in Concourse D spread over an area of 7,000 sqm.

The new facility will also have nine lounges spread over 6,926 sqm, including five airline lounges, a new Al Majlis lounge, two Dubai International Hotel lounges and a Marhaba VIP lounge.

It will also offer SnoozeCubes to allow passengers to rest between flights.

“Aside from its many customer-centric features, Concourse D continues our legacy of providing timely capacity,” said chief executive of Dubai Airports Paul Griffiths.

“Today we also announce our 2016 forecast which projects 85 million passengers will visit Dubai International this year. With the addition of Concourse D, Dubai International is getting both bigger and better.”

Dubai International is currently the busiest airport in the world for international passenger traffic and welcomed 78 million visitors in 2015. Average monthly traffic stood at 6.5 million passengers last year, officials confirmed.

The emirate is hoping to attract 126 million passengers per year by 2020 and around 200 million passengers annually by 2030.