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.
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