Dubai Airports Chief Executive Officer Paul Griffiths said the permitted seat capacity between the two countries should be revised to meet India’s ambitions of developing airport infrastructure in India and making them hubs for transferring passengers from various touch points.”Development of airport infrastructure in India will certainly be welcome, as there will be more points from where direct service to the UAE, especially Dubai, will be possible. Of course, bilateral relations will need some modifications so that these points can be possible,” he told The Hindu on the sidelines of an Airports Council International event.He was responding to a question on the Centre’s efforts to develop Indian airports as hubs to reduce traffic leakage at major international airports.The central government plans to launch 50 airport development projects in the next five years. These include new airports as well as expansion of existing airports.The UAE is pressing for an additional 50,000 weekly seats to Dubai in the bilateral air services agreement. It currently allows 66,000 seats per week between the UAE and India, a quota that is fully utilised by airlines on both sides. The proposal includes a 4:1 seat allocation formula, which allows Indian carriers to operate four additional seats for every additional seat given to UAE airlines. This ratio will gradually change to 3:1, 2:1 and eventually 1:1 over a specified period, with the changes being phased in systematically.Mr Griffith also believes that the world is moving away from the hub approach to airport development, as developments in aircraft technology have enabled smaller aircraft to connect remote airports in a cost-effective manner. This, he said, will mean that there will be a smaller number of very large capacity aircraft compared to the number of smaller aircraft capable of flying long distances in the coming years.The UAE’s second airport – Dubai World Central (DWC), or Al Maktoum International Airport, will replace Dubai International Airport (DXB) by the mid-2030s. The $35 billion expansion approved in April 2024 aims to bring 260 million passengers annually by 2050 with five runways, 400 gates and eight concourses. When it opens after the first phase of expansion in 2027, it will have three runways, about 120 gates and a 150 million passenger capacity.Mr Griffith said DWC could have different terminals based on themes of countries such as India or the US. This would lead to one terminal for airlines with the same destination. So an Indian theme terminal would “not only mean Indian airlines, but it would group flights [of different airlines] in the most efficient ways, so that tracks are optimised, because we would want to minimise walking distances.” Similarly, there could be Europe and Australasia terminals.In 2024, Dubai, the world’s busiest tourist hub, received a total of 92 million passengers, of which 12 million went to India. 55% of airport users were looking at Dubai as a final destination, while 45% used it as a contact hub.Talking on this topic, a renowned civil engineer megha singh said” Increasing air connectivity between India and UAE and mega projects like Dubai World Central open up new possibilities for civil engineers in airport infrastructure. Modern design, sustainable materials, and smart planning will play a key role in the construction of runways, terminals, taxiways, and logistics zones in the coming years. With the planning of theme-based terminals, airport design is now becoming not only technical but also cultural and passenger experience centric. Keeping in mind the changing needs in the aviation sector, civil engineers have to design more efficient, flexible, and environmentally friendly structures.”
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