DUQM: Commercial operations of the passenger terminal at Duqm Airport will start in the coming months after ensuring full readiness of the terminal. This was stated by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications, during his visit to the passenger terminal project at Duqm Airport on Sunday. During the visit, the minister was accompanied by Dr Mohammed bin Nasser al Zaabi, CEO of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA), officials and specialists at the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Dr Al Futaisi and others were briefed on the progress of work.
They toured the passenger terminal, air cargo building, air traffic complex and air traffic control (ATC) tower to ensure readiness of all systems and preparation as 96 per cent of the passenger terminal has been already completed. “Around 96 per cent of the project has been already completed, which means that the project is in the finishing stage and system commissioning,” Dr Al Futaisi said. “The commercial operations will start during the second half of this year after reaching a final agreement with the ministry’s partners and after completing all tests and commissioning,” Dr Al Futaisi added.
“The airport has been designed to handle half a million passengers serving both domestic and international flights per year and will go up to 2 million in future,” he said. The total area of the passenger terminal is 8,660 square metres. It has a ground floor and a mezzanine level offering services such as food courts, restaurants, retail stores and other service facilities. The airport will be equipped with two boarding bridges, in addition to five check-in counters, electronic gates and other advanced facilitates, including security systems.
In the first nine months of 2017, around 25,100 passengers used Duqm Airport, an increase of 39.3 per cent from 18,009 passengers in 2016 for the same period. Duqm is an industrial port town of great commercial importance, which has experienced vast development since 2008. As a special economic zone, it attracts investors from around the world.
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