Aviation News –
The aviation landscape is changing fast, and Al Maktoum International will help Dubai keep pace with the demands wrought by technological advancements. The airport has been designed with an eye on the future: a future where narrow-bodied aircraft will play a pivotal role in air travel. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, underscored that at the Arabian Travel Market on Tuesday.
Parking for up to 400 aircraft, 5 runways and the capacity to handle 260 million passengers annually: that’s Al Maktoum International. The facilities at the new airport are enhanced to cope with the changing industry, Griffiths said during a talk on “Navigating the future of air travel, moderated by Mark Frary, co-founder of Travel Perspective.
Like any other technology, aviation technology has been changing rapidly. Any futureproof solution should factor in the pace at which technology is developing. That’s the nub of Griffith’s argument.
To illustrate the point, he said, “If you extrapolate the growth from 17 years ago with 30 million [passengers annually], we’re now 90 million. And if you go forward another 15 to 20 years, we will probably be at 260 million. This airport [Al Maktoum International] has been designed for it. Aircraft technology has changed so much, and it’s about to change if you look at the average size of aircraft at the moment.”
The Airbus A380 superjumbo was once the pride of the fleet. It has since slipped from the pedestal, unseated by the efficient, narrow-bodied aircraft which played a major role in the post-pandemic recovery of the aviation industry.