Abu Dhabi's airport rises from the desert
From afar they resemble giant steel spiders, their huge curved legs emerging from a desert landscape.
Protruding from each of them is a mass of metal and concrete, gradually lengthening by the day, inching towards a central “mother” site, which itself is a skeletal steel mess.
Cranes swing and lift, there are excavation sites, tunnels, heaps of twisted metal. And everywhere you look across this vast area are workmen – 15,000 of them – scurrying around in yellow hats, many wrapped up to protect themselves from the 37 degree heat.
Welcome to the construction site of The Midfield Terminal Complex (MTC), an expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Viewing the current site, it’s impossible to imagine that on July 7, 2017 – the date has been set in stone – this will be a gleaming 700,000 square meter terminal capable of handling 30 million passengers each year. Even more remarkably, the terminal will be largely finished by late 2016, allowing for a nine month trial ahead of the official opening.
It is a multi-billion dirham investment by the Abu Dhabi Airports Company which says it is necessary to meet the growing demand of Abu Dhabi as a destination and transit point for international and domestic flights and passengers. The existing hub serves 96 destinations in 54 countries and over the next few years will accommodate 20 million passengers annually.
“The MTC will contribute to the long term success of the aviation sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,” ADAC says.
The Midfield Terminal Building (MTB), the centre-piece of the wider complex development, will be located between the airport’s two runways, hence the current ‘Midfield’ name of the project. Naturally enough it will become the home of Etihad Airways and its partners, and its location will, ADAC says, allow for the shortest possible journey from runway to parking stand.
The spider-like structures and the constructions protruding from them are the four departure and arrival halls, each of which spiral out from the main terminal building.
There will be 65 gates, including eight for A380 size aircraft with an additional 14 remote stands. Convention check-in counters will number 156, with 48 self-service kiosks, while the terminal will also house a 163-room three star transit hotel and spa.
For now, it’s a tangled construction site. Before long, it will be anything but.
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