Abu Dhabi’s $2.9bn airport extension ‘on track to open in 2017’
Midfield Terminal Building will be 60% to 65% complete by the end of the year, Abu Dhabi Airports chairman says
Abu Dhabi airport’s $2.9 billion Midfield Terminal Building, part of a major expansion programme, will be 60% to 65% complete by the end of the year, a senior official has said.
Abu Dhabi Airports boss Ali Majed Al Mansouri said that while there had been some changes to the design of the building, construction remains on schedule, according to an interview with Gulf News.
The project is expected to be open for business by July 2017, though it is currently being assessed whether it will be fully opened by then or commence operations in stages throughout the course of the rest of the year.
Al Mansouri added that the changes in design came about due to the complexity of the building and changes in technology.
Abu Dhabi Airports has already hired the Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) team that will assess the readiness of the terminal, Al Mansouri revealed. Meanwhile, staff and dummy passengers will test the terminal from the first quarter of 2017.
Nearly 40% of the steel structure of the building has been completed, while glassing will be finished by the end of May or early June, the chairman added.
The Midfield Terminal Building is being built by a joint venture between Dubai-listed Arabtec and Turkey’s TAV. Its total capacity will reach 40 million passengers a year once it is fully operational, and it will cater to Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways and the other carriers it holds stakes in.
The new terminal building is part of a wider ten-year $10.8 billion airport expansion plan that runs from 2009 to 2019.
