Al Maktoum International Airport opens new passenger terminal. The Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central opens its new passenger terminal as the very first commercial flight, Wizz Air flight W6 2497 from Budapest touches down. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central has opened the doors to its
00:12new passenger terminal.
00:14The arrival of the first commercial flight, Hungarian Wizz Air Flight W62497, was welcomed
00:21by a host of dignitaries, including His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice
00:26President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al
00:31Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation and CEO and Chairman of the Emirates
00:36Group, and Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.
00:40Today's been a very historic moment because we're here at Dubai World Central, having
00:45opened for passengers for the very first time.
00:48And that, I think, builds on the vision that we've had for Dubai for a very, very long
00:53time, of this being where the airport for the future is going to be built.
01:01Today we are here to celebrate the opening of our very first flight to Dubai.
01:04We are launching four destinations from Dubai, you know, flights to Budapest, Sofia, Bucharest
01:10and Kiev.
01:12The new passenger terminal offers a full range of amenities and has the capacity to host
01:17up to 7 million passengers per year.
01:20Dubai Airports has confirmed operations with three airlines, Wizz Air, who have begun flights,
01:26Jazira Airways, who will commence flights on October 31st, and Gulf Air, who will begin
01:31operations in December.
01:33And it seems this is just the beginning for the new airport.
01:37We are very close to signing some deals with more carriers, and I'm convinced by the end
01:41of the year we will have announced that we've got even more airlines.
01:44And once I think they see the success that airlines are having operating from Dubai World
01:49Central, then actually a lot more will want to sign up.
01:52The next phase will be to expand the existing facilities here to cope with the incremental
01:57traffic growth.
01:58Then, of course, the big push will be coming when we start to build more runways and more
02:03terminal capacity, with an eye on getting a hub established here, hopefully within the
02:08next five to ten years.
02:10So if you're planning a trip abroad in the near future, you may well find yourself checking
02:15in at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central.
02:18Jay Lenton for Gulf News.