Plans are being drawn up to locate major parts of Dubai’s new airport underground to safeguard the facility from potential drone and missile attacks, while pushing forward with expansion efforts despite the war involving Iran.
Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, noted that critical infrastructure such as fuel storage units could be placed below ground to reinforce the site against future threats and increase resilience, reports Financial Times.
He affirmed that the multibillion-dollar project to build a larger airport capable of handling 250 million passengers annually will not be downscaled due to the conflict.
In his first newspaper interview since the outbreak of fighting in late February, Griffiths disclosed that his briefest conversation with chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum was over whether the situation altered their long-term strategy, to which the response was “no”.
First opened in 1960, Dubai’s primary airport, known by its code DXB, held the title of the world’s largest international airport for a decade. However, it slipped out of the global top five during the first half of this year as conflict involving Iran, the US, and Israel caused severe turmoil in regional airspace.
At the height of the conflict between Iran, the US, and Israel, above-ground fuel tanks at DXB were struck, compelling the airport to halt operations briefly. Flights were resumed within an hour of the incident, with Griffiths maintaining that operations remained safe throughout.
Flag carrier Emirates grounded its entire fleet when the war began in late February but restarted operations within days by routing planes through narrow air corridors patrolled by United Arab Emirates military aircraft.
Although drone and ballistic missile strikes hit parts of Dubai, including locations near the airport, causing hundreds of injuries and over a dozen deaths across the UAE, no fatalities occurred at the airport.
Real-time communication with military and UAE authorities enabled airport leadership to anticipate incoming strikes, allowing passengers to be moved to underground facilities on short notice.
Out of 111 alerts received, DXB experienced only 16 strikes, most of which inflicted minor damage. Clearance updates from civil defence and military officials allowed the facility to resume standard operations in as little as 10 minutes after an alert.
Passenger traffic at the government-owned hub, which does not release financial statements, declined by a third in the first half of the year.
Monthly passenger counts dropped from 7.4 million in February to 2.5 million in March, before making a steady recovery to 3.5 million in April, 4.5 million in May, 5 million in June, and 6.3 million in July.
Griffiths stated that 78 per cent of travellers have now returned to DXB, with the remaining 22 per cent expected to follow. Over 50 airlines have reinstated services, including Air France, while British Airways (BA) plans to relaunch flights to Dubai when the industry’s winter season starts in October.
While some carriers have been slow to return due to planes being full on reallocated routes between Europe and Asia, Griffiths anticipates a full recovery early next year and expects DXB to reclaim its title as the world’s largest international airport.
