Ajman wants to build an airport. And why not? Every other emirate has one, some even have two. If we are to believe the expansion plans, the UAE’s west coast airports will be handling 230 million passengers a year by 2015. This equates to a packed, 500-capacity A380 superjumbo arriving at one of the six airports every minute, of every hour, of every day.
The figures must be nonsense. London Heathrow, currently the world’s busiest international airport, sees 67m passengers a year. Gatwick, also serving London, sees 37m. The UAE could add Paris (60m) and Frankfurt (54m), and still fall short. This year the UAE six might process 40m passengers.
Or is it nonsense? Emirates has consistently hit its targets and has the biggest order of A380s of any airline. Sharjah is making a sensible pitch for low-cost traffic (a growth sector), Ajman and RAK have modest aims. Abu Dhabi has the money to bully its way into the equation.
As with many things in the go-ahead UAE the figures are outlandish, but just this side of believable. Man made island home to 500,000 people? Sure. Patch of desert home to six world class theme parks? No problem. A 150-storey tower? Make it 170 floors.
The danger is that projects can’t be taken seriously unless they aim for fantastical targets. And, for now, the press and public swallow it. It’s not that some mega-projects can’t work, but it isn’t a given that every one of them will. Greater scrutiny from the off might avoid a bumpy landing.
1 comment:
I don't think that I want to be living in a country with that much air traffic overhead - the sun will never shine through that layer of pollution.
The figures touted for airport numbers always amuse me as they make it sound like a lot of people are coming to the UAE - which they are, but not nearly the same amount as the numbers going through the airports.
The UAE is an ideal location for hub airports and that's exactly what's happening - a lot of travellers are in transit and aren't even bothering to stop in the country.
My 3 recent landings at DXB were outfield positions where we were bussed into the terminals from the planes. The first stop for the full buses was the transit stop. The second stop is for people wanting to enter the UAE. On all 3 occasions, by the time the bus got to the 2nd stop, there were only 2-5 people left onboard - the rest had got off to continue on onward flights.
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