Dubai plans to invest USD$7.8 billion in expanding airspace and airport capacity at Dubai International Airport over a 10-year period, according to GulfNews.com.
The project was this week approved by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.
The plan will see Dubai International Airport expand its capacity from the current 60 million passengers per year to 90 million by 2018, according to Dubai Airports, the operator of Dubai International and DWC-Al Maktoum International Airport.
According to Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Airports, by 2020, 98.5 million passengers and over four million tonnes of air freight will pass through Dubai’s airports.
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said that the expansion would see the aviation sector accounting for 22% of Dubai's total employment and 32% of the emirate's GDP by 2020.
The airport currently has two concourses, with the third one due to open in late 2012. A fourth will be developed by 2015. -- Source: GulfNews