History of Dubai International Airport [307144]

Chapter 1

Introduction

Seat capacity of the Dubai International Airport has grown at fastest rate (O’Connell, 2011b). This reflects in the fact that it connects more than 220 destinations with help of 130 airlines. Statistics show that more than daily approximately hundred thousand travelers use the airport infrastructure. Over the years Dubai International Airport has been experiencing further increase in the volume of baggage and number of flights (Graham, 2013). This increase is largely due to increase in number of travelers transiting through this terminal. Consequently, it aims to increase the passenger capacity by 98 million by 2020 (Bagaeen, 2007). Past statistics shows that traffic of Dubai International Airport has doubled in last seven years to approximately 65.4 million travelers. For example, a new terminal has added 220 check in counters, 2600 car parks, 157 elevators, and approximately eighty kilometers of baggage transport.

[anonimizat], and support infrastructure due to fast growth rate. Dubai International (DXB) started operation on 30 September 1960 (ABOUZEID and FARAH, 2014). Initially, DXB served as an airstrip for refueling international airlines. Now, after 65 year it has emerged as world’s leading hubs for both passenger and freight air traffics. Statistics show that more than 66.4 million passengers used the airport in the year 2013, and it is expected to exceed beyond 100 million by the end of this decade. Further, by 2020 Dubai International Airport expects to facilitate 120 million passengers and more than 5 [anonimizat].

This tremendous growth of Dubai International Airport has become blue print for many upcoming airports in the world. This study critically analyses last 10 years developments at Dubai International Airport. [anonimizat]. Later, a questionnaire survey is used for collecting primary data from users (travelers) of the airport infrastructure. The study group comprises of randomly selected subjects from the Terminal-I. It should be noted that this research work studied both Terminal-I [anonimizat].

History of Dubai International Airport

Dubai’s [anonimizat]. Imperial Airways started first regular service from Dubai in the year 1937 (Hooper et al., 2011). It should be noted that Dubai has been historically a [anonimizat], and trading. [anonimizat]-service at Dubai was just another extension of its rich history.

In the year 1960, Dubai International Airport started its operation with a 1800 m long compacted runway. [anonimizat]-3. In the coming year i.e. in 1961, it had capacity to handle 10,000 passengers with 772 scheduled flights from the Dubai International Airport.

Figure 1.1 Dubai International Airport’s runway during 1960s.

In 1970s, the terminal building covered 13,400 sq mt with a 28 m high control tower. Even during 1970s Dubai International Airport had capacity to handle 127 scheduled flights over 20 destinations per week and catered its services to nine airlines. Further, in 1983 its passenger capacity increased to 1800 passengers per hour with a separate arrival terminal. [anonimizat] number of travelers with longer transit time, a Dubai Duty Free area was opened in the year 1983. Nevertheless, until 1991 there was no Cargo terminal. It was only in the year 1991 a separate Cargo terminal opened and in the year 1998 terminal- 2 opened. During1990s more lounges were added at terminal-1 to handle larger number of departure. It was in the year 2000, the capacity of Dubai International Airport increased to 20 million a year with opening of Sheikh Rashid Terminal.

Terminal 1 is named Sheikh Rashid Terminal; it comprises of 27 contact gates that connects two runways (Govers and Go, 2009). It has state of art lighting system and new technology. It provides 25 outlets of food and beverage to the passengers. In addition, 32 lounges are spread evenly throughout the terminal of which 14 lounges cater to first class passengers. Further, it has special children’s area dedicated to provide recreation to children, when families wait to transit at the airport. Dubai Duty Free area covers 5400 m2 for more than 30000 products.

Figure 1.2 Terminal 1 of Dubai International Airport.

Figure 1.3 Dubai Duty Free area at Terminal 1.

Dubai Internal Hotel is part of DXB; it is equipped with spa, gym, and rooms, making it a five star hotel. Further, it has a fully equipped and advanced Business Centre. In order to meet growing business class travelers, it provides a health club- G-Force- with swimming, spa, and gym facilities.

Over the years, DXB has become world’s fastest growing airport. This has been possible due to large passenger and cargo traffic. One should note that the Dubai International Airport gave double digit growth, even during the recent economic slowdown. Statistics show that Dubai International Airport maintained passenger growth rate between 9 and 20 percent; while, cargo showed growth rate between 8.6 and 25 percent (Henderson, 2006). This is incredible achievement as many global economies and airport experienced economic slowdown. The growth of Dubai International Airport reflects in statistical comparison of number of airline users in 2000, 2008, and 2015. In the early years i.e. 2000, 92 airlines used the infrastructure of Dubai International Airport. On the other hand, 125 airlines were using the airport infrastructure in the year 2008. The number of airlines using the airport significantly increased by the end of year- 2015. This increase in number of airlines using the airport increased worldwide connectivity of Dubai. For example, in the year 2000, Dubai International Airport linked 135 destinations worldwide, and this number increased to 205 in the year 2008 (Stephens Balakrishnan, 2008). Therefore, it can be concluded that Dubai International Airport has seen dramatic increase in both passenger and freight movement.

Organization and Management Team at DXB

In order to run an international airport, it is very important to provide right logistics expertise at right time. Looking at numerous challenges and growth in the Middle east aviation industry, SD (Middle East ) LLC was formed in the year 2001. It was formed by merger of two giants namely Siemens Production and Logistics Systems AG and Mannesmann Dematic AG. Primary aim of SD (Middle East) LLC was to server Middle East region. Presently, it provides integrated business solutions in the Middle Eastern region related to marketing, sales, and technical expertise. Further, it also provides consulting and customer services.

Presently, SD (Middle East) LLC handles baggage and air cargo at Dubai International Airport. In addition, it handles technical upgrades at various levels. Management team of DXG relies on expertise of SD (Middle East) LLC, and growth of airport proves that satisfactory work is being delivered at Dubai International Airport by partners. This is primarily because of SD (Middle East) LLC derives from Siemens’s rich experience from other airports. It should be noted that Siemens has global experience in airline products, services, and it has fully developed integrated solution to multiple problems. For example, it is active partner in providing local services to approximately 30 airports. It has leading expertise and technical instruments for Baggage handling and cargo handling across multiple airports. Siemens provides baggage handling system at multiple airports- Table 1.1 lists down name of airport where Siemens provides its technical expertise in Baggage Handling. Similarly, Table 1.2 shows list of airport terminal where Siemens provides its Cargo Handling system.

Table 1.1 List of airport terminals where Siemens provides Baggage Handling System.

Table 1.2 List of airport terminals where Siemens provides Cargo Handling System.

Logistics for Airports and Airlines

In order to meet future challenges, airport and airlines rely heavily on postal, parcel, and logistics. At Dubai International Airport, Siemens provides following services and benefits it deriving from its rich international experience making Dubai International Airport highly efficient and passenger friendly. It provides it services in following verticals (Figure 1.4):

Baggage Handling

Air Cargo Systems

Aviation IT

Airport Modernization

Airport Services

Sales Contacts

Figure 1.4, shows major areas of airport operation and management that is being handled by SD (Middle East) LLC at Dubai International Airport.

Figure 1.4 Major areas of operation and management at Dubai International Airport.

Baggage Handling

Presently, efficient baggage handling system is key to successful operation of any airport. In this, one needs to stream line baggage handling process. In addition, one needs to steadily increase passenger handling capacity of baggage handling systems. Increasing number of passenger increases security risk; therefore, it is equally important to provide tighter security standards for continuous and profitable operation. Therefore, it can be concluded that baggage handling system plays vital role in successful operation of airlines and airports across the world,

Air Cargo Handling

It is very important to plan and implement air cargo storage and transportation. Due to increasing demand and reducing space, cost of air cargo is increasing yearly. In order to meet international standards and guidelines, airport management needs to make cargo handling and efficient and streamline process. Consequently, operation and management team at Dubai International Airport need to handle cargo carefully.

Aviation IT

Information and technology provides solution to operation and management related problems such as number of passengers and volume of cargo. In order to meet future challenges in aviation industry due to ever increasing number of passenger and cargo at Dubai International Airport, integrated software based solution help in fast and easy handling of data. This helps in making quick and efficient operation and management related decisions.

Capacity Plus

At Dubai International Airport, SD (Middle East) LLC offers CapacityPlus service that offers an integrated airport solution including safety systems, check-in counters, and complete passengers baggage handling system. In addition, the event managers handle temporary peak times during large influx of passengers.

Airport Modernization

With years of experience in airport logistics and infrastructure, SD (Middle East) LLC provides timely upgrades airport terminals with latest technology. This includes wide range of options for all type of airport applications. Recently, SD (Middle East) LLC under took upgrade of Terminal 1 at Dubai International Airport.

Sales Contacts

SD (Middle East) LLC has expert sales team that can be contacted for small to large scale postal, parcel, and logistics upgrades from time to time. In ever increasing passenger and airline traffic, this helps airport to handle unprecedented demand.

Baggage Handling

Streamlining baggage handling improves efficiency of airport in handling large passenger inflow. Major part of this report deals with baggage handling at Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport. Therefore, it is vital to discuss major area of work with respect to baggage handling. In this regards, operation and management team of SD (Middle East) LLC helps in following areas:

Check-In

Screening and Reading

Baggage Vision System

Transport and Sorting

Baggage Storage

Baggage make-up and reclamation

Baggage IT

Figure 1.5, shows major areas of baggage handling that is being handled by SD (Middle East) LLC at Dubai International Airport.

Figure 1.4 Major areas of operation and management at Dubai International Airport.

Check-In

Dubai International Airport terminals are equipped with advanced material handling and weighing technologies; this makes comfortable check-in for passengers traveling through these terminals. Both self-check-in and staffed-check-in counters are provided at the terminals. Further, these baggage check-in counters are integrated with and without bag-drop facility to meet various kinds of passengers. It also provides integrated check-in counters with security checkpoints that make use of advanced technology for sorting baggage for destination. These innovative technologies increases efficiency of staff, lowers investment and maintenance cost, at the same time keeps a passenger friendly environment.

Screening and Reading

SD (Middle East) LLC provides in-line screening and lobby screening. The X-ray screening system is integrated with the baggage handling system. Thus, entire screening and reading process is faster when compared to traditional systems. For example, initial screening is made automatic i.e. first baggage is screened automatically, and if required manual check is conducted on suspicious baggage. In addition, a new Baggage Vision System is implemented that automated traditional barcode reading and RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags. The new Baggage Vision System does not fully rely on barcode system; instead, it works with optical character recognition (OCR). OCR system is helpful in recognizing destination airport and flight number even when the traditional barcode is damaged. This reduces delay in delivery of baggage with damaged barcode.

Transport and Sorting

In order to efficiently transport and sort baggage, a wide range of technologies are used such as conveyor belt, high-speed tray, curve junction, swivel diverters, distributors, sorters, and tilt trays.

Baggage Storage

At Dubai International Airport, baggage is kept in early baggage store (EBS) and processed when respective flight is ready to depart. Unit Load Device is used for loading the baggage into airplane. In addition, a Baggage Warehouse system has been implemented at Dubai International Airport, which is economic and environment friendly. It is fully automatic and uses Lift and Run system in place of stacker cranes which consume a lot of time.

Baggage make-up and Reclaim

The baggage reclaim area at the Dubai International Airport is equipped with high capacity system for passenger reclaim and make-up sorting. For example, the passenger-reclaim area made of stainless steel. The carousel is installed in different shaped such as simple loop to complex geometrical shapes with multiple curves. This gives easy access to passenger in the baggage-reclaim area. Further, longer life time ensure to reduce maintenance and upgrade cost.

Baggage IT

Dubai International Airport uses Baggage-IT that suites sort management, technical monitoring, supervisory control, and flow optimization. Therefore, baggage-IT helps in planning, screening, storage, and visualization.

Organization of SD (Middle East) LLC

SD (Middle East) LLC focuses in providing optimum return to its customers. Management team derives a lot from its experience worldwide. Presently it employs more than 200 person at various level across multiple department. Figure 1.5 shows organization chart of the company. Further, Figure 1.6 shows various departments active in SD (Middle East) LLC. More detail about companies profile can be obtained from its official website.

Figure 1.5 Organization chart of SD (Middle East) LLC.

Figure 1.6 Chart showing various departments of SD (Middle East) LLC.

Chapter 2

Introduction

Previous chapter introduced literature related to Dubai International Airport. In addition, a detailed discussion was provided on the operation and management of SD (Middle East) LLC, which handles Dubai International Airport. In this chapter, research method and tools are introduced and discussed. These tools are used to data collection, analysis, and discussion of results.

Title of the Study

Dubai International Airport is fastest growing airport in the world. This report looks to investigate salient features that has led to this rapid growth. Report also looks into operation and management of Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. In addition, a survey was conducted to analyze operation and management of Dubai International Airport. Therefore this report is titled: “Dubai International Airport: A success story”

Objective of the study

Following are the research objectives of this report:

Study theories of airport management and look into its role in improving the business.

Layout management practices of Dubai International Airport and investigates major areas of strength.

Compare working environment of two terminals of Dubai International Airport namely Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.

Type of Research

This report is part of a case study on Dubai International Airport with special focus on Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Research method and tools used in this report were carefully selected to meet the stated objectives. Since, there is lack of in-depth literature on operation and management of Dubai International Airport; this study uses exploratory research. This type of research involves conducting case studies, questionnaire survey, and comparative study based on primary and secondary data sources.

Dubai International Airport has three terminals namely Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. This research uses primary and secondary data from research survey and other published research works to analyze operation and management at the selected terminals. Primarily, a qualitative method was used that derives its primary data from questionnaire survey conducted on selected group of management team at Dubai International Airport. Survey data was used alongside management tools such as Five Forces Model to identify the factors contributing to success of Dubai International Airport (Siaw and Yu, 2004).

This research work shows that management at Dubai International Airport provides quality service to its passengers and management policies help in reducing running cost. In addition, airport management has many strategic alliances with its partners that help it to survive and sustain during economic slowdown. This report discusses the management strategies that have helped Dubai International Airport to gain over its counterpart in the region.

Government provides strong support to the management team at Dubai International Airport. In addition, management at Dubai International Airport practices some management policies that are not very common in aviation industry. For example, management here pays special attention to market expansion and leadership, which is not very common in policies of other airport authorities. This is complemented by the fact that Dubai International Airport is geographically located at hot spot between west and east. One should note that even though Dubai International Airport has limited ability to expand physically due to geographical condition, above mentioned combination of government support, unique management strategies, and geographical location helps it to grow. Therefore, this report looks into some of these aspects to analyze factors contributing to its success.

Management Strategy

Management strategy plays vital role in success of any organization; however, the definition of management and its strategy changes from organization to organization (Freeman, 2010). Some definitions focus on healthy relationship between an organization’s objective and management policies; while other definitions stress on relationship between an organization’s ability to cop to ever changing external environment and strategies of management. Nevertheless, it can be stated that a good and efficient management keeps a balance between an organization’s objective, external environment, and related policies. Therefore, it can be concluded that an efficient management formulates strategies based on the objective of organization and competitive environment.

Managers need to act based on organization’s mission, objective, and tactics (Ackoff, 1974, Dozier et al., 2013). One should note that mission and objective of an organization needs to be clearly understood by management. Mission is long term target and it does not change over time; on the other hand, objective of an organization changes with time based on internal and external environment. Objectives are targets that an organization sets to achieve in a given time. In order to achieve the objective managers make tactical decision within the timeframe to achieve the objective. It should be noted that an efficient management implements strategies and policies to achieve organization’s objective. Figure 2.1 shows a flow chart that defines an organization’s mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics.

Figure 2.1 Hierarchy of an organization’s Mission, Objective, Strategy, and Tactics over time from longer to shorter time scale.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a research tool that is used for identifying an organization’s strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (Helms and Nixon, 2010, Shinno et al., 2006). Research studies show that strength and weakness of an organization depends on an organization’s internal environment (Balamuralikrishna and Dugger, 1995). Similarly, external environment of an organization or market decides the opportunity and threat (Balamuralikrishna and Dugger, 1995). Therefore, it can be concluded that it is vital to investigate an organization’s external environment and internal environment. SWOT analysis helps in achieving this objective in a systematic manner.

Resources available within an organization and internal factors define an organization’s strength to take up a given project or assignment towards fulfillment of its objective. On the other hand, weakness is the factor that imparts negative feedback in market and among customers about the organization. Similarly, external environment outside company is source of opportunity and threat that may influence its position in market among its competitors and customers. Generally, the environmental model is used for analyzing external environment; while, resource of an organization is analyzed using resource based model that carefully investigates an organizations capabilities and resources. Figure 2.2 shows a strong relationship between external and internal environment (Rivard et al., 2006); this figure also shows relationship between four factors used in this study to analyze efficiency of Dubai International Airport namely strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat.

Figure 2.2 Relationship between resource based model and environmental model.

Organization: Internal and External Environment

Organizations should consider impact of external and internal environment as they indicate major future changes that might take place in a given industry. Research proves that most external factors are beyond control of any organization but every organization should analyze external changes in the market from time to time; this would help it in meeting future challenges and major changes in the market. Management can use its resource to make profit from future opportunities arising in the market place; similarly, management can prepare itself for handling threats rising from external environment. Generally, external treats can lead to heavy loss and decrease its profit and performance of organization, if management do not prepare and efficiently handle external threats.

Based on previous research, external environment can be grouped into following (Pickton and Broderick, 2001):

Macro-environment

Micro-Environment

Macro-environmental changes have long term effect; while, micro-environmental changes have immediate effect (Mertens et al., 2015). Figure 2.3 shows relationship between micro and macro environmental changes at market place.

Figure 2.3 Relationships between Macro-Environment, Micro-Environment, and Organization.

This report presents impact of following factors on External Macro-environment:

Technological factors

Political factors

Legal factors

Economic factors

Social factors

Environmental factors

In addition, a brief discussion is provided on following external Micro-environmental factors:

Intensity of Rivalry

Treat of Entry

Pressure from Substitutes

Bargaining Power of Buyers

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Further, this report analyzes the internal environment of organization under following:

Resource Based View of Organization (RBV)

Financial Capacity

Physical Capacity

Human Capacity

Organizations Capacity

Data Collection

This report carefully selected a combination of data collection method. For any research data collection method starts with literature review, and covers data from previous research work. This research work uses two types of data sources namely primary data source and secondary data source. In the discussion of results, this report combines the data from the primary and secondary sources to give a comprehensive result.

In this research work, both qualitative and quantitative data were used. During the questionnaire survey, qualitative methods were used for collective data that were qualitative in nature such as satisfaction level of passenger after check-in. Similarly, quantitative method was used for collecting quantitative data such as number of passenger visiting Terminal 1. It should be noted that qualitative data gives better insight into present situation of operation and management (Myers, 2013, Corbin and Strauss, 2014, Seidman, 2013, Maxwell, 2012). In addition, the quantitative data give concrete information about the performance level with respect to operation and management at airport.

Further, the secondary data were collected from previous archives datacenters and literature published online. For example, government reports, research publications, articles, and internal departmental data act as secondary source of data. Figure 2.4 shows flow of data collection process in order to meet the research objective.

Figure 2.5 Flow of data collection to meet each research objective of this research related to Dubai International Airport.

Questionnaire survey

This research work collected the qualitative data from the staff of Dubai International Airport. Questionnaire survey is considered a very powerful tool for tapping subjects everyday experience towards a particular environment i.e. Dubai International Airport in this case (Willis, 2004). Logic of each question is varied to keep it unpredictable and logical. Generally, questionnaire can be classified into three types namely:

Structured

Semi-structured

Unstructured

Structured interview helps in getting quantifiable data; on the other hand, qualitative data is obtained from semi-structured and unstructured set of questionnaire. This research used semi-structured and unstructured set of questions to obtain experience of subject at Dubai International Airport.

Selection of Sample for Questionnaire

Sample size of subjects to be interviewed is vital for obtaining promising results. Research studies shows that sample size should be such that researcher gains understanding on the subject area. In this regard, a large group of subject can distort and lead to misinterpretation of results. Therefore, in this research work a sample size of 10 people working at Dubai International Airport was selected for the survey.

Research focused to cover people from different department at Dubai International Airport to get insight into subjects working experience. These subjects had different responsibilities in different departments at the airport. All the questionnaire surveys were conducted on the site i.e. in respective departments of Dubai International Airport. On an average, each subject took 15 minutes to answer the questions in the set.

Analysis of Data

Research work collected data from primary and secondary sources; hence, it was difficult to analyze the data. Nevertheless, primary focus of this study was to look at external and internal factors affecting business of airport. Therefore, a set of business tool were used to analyzing the data namely Five Force Models, and RBV (Maxfield, 2008). In order to analyze Dubai International Airport’s competitiveness Five Force Model proved to be very powerful tool. In addition, RBV model was used for analyzing internal environment of airport.

The overall findings of this report are presented in later chapter. This report concludes that use of useful business tool helps in finding internal and external environment of airport and effectiveness of operations and efficiency of management at Dubai International Airport. Figure 2.6 shows a flow chart depicting analysis process.

Figure 2.6 Flow of research work to investigate Dubai International Airport.

Limitations

One should note that previous research works have not covered Dubai International Airport in a comprehensive manner. In addition, there is lack of published results from the Airport authorities. Therefore, during this research author had to work with the secondary data from limited research works. However, there was ample data for comparison with other airport. Therefore, results obtained from primary data were compared with similar research works conducted on other airports.

CHAPTER 3

Data Analysis, Interpretation and Presentation

Introduction

This study investigates success of the Dubai International Airport. In this regard, first a detail comparison was done for Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, which are two major terminals for commercial services. Later, this study reviews major factors that has let to growth of Dubai International Airport. It looks into technological factors, followed by social and political factor of UAE. In the end, this work discusses its physical and financial strengths and human resources. Major data for this work was derived from primary and secondary data sources using questionnaire survey and other published documents. The following section compares the infrastructure of Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 in detail.

Comparative study of Terminals at DXB

It should be noted that Dubai International Airport has three terminals namely Termainal-1, Terminal-2 and Terminal-3. Terminal 2 handles cargo; while, terminal-1 and terminal-3 handles passenger. Terminal-1 and Terminal-3 has helped increase passenger handling capacity of Dubai International Airport in the year 2000 and 2008 respectively. Most of the data discussed in the comparison is derived from Airport Systems Planning and Management book; in addition, this analysis uses data from 1.231 Planning and Design of Airport Systems. In coming sections, comparison is made based on the design and at the end an overall summary is provided.

United Arab Emirates houses Dubai city that has a population of approximately 2 million. Over the year world population has increases at a rapid rate and more and more people need to travel across the globe due to growing need and drive from globalization. In this respect, Dubai is strategically placed in the middle to connect long distance flights. One should also note that Dubai International Airport is important from economical perspective as it contributes immensely to its GDP i.e. approximately 28 percent of the GDP comes from Dubai International Airport. Further, it employs over 3348 employees, according to 2012 survey.

Figure 3.1 Geographical location of Dubai International Airport.

Since, its launch in the year 1960, opening of Terminal 1 is considered to be one of important development as it increased annual passenger handling capacity of the Dubai International Airport from 10 million to 23 million passengers. According to literature a total of 540 million US dollars were spent to construct Terminal-1. Similarly, terminal-3 was added to the Dubai International Airport in the year 2008 at a cost of 4.5 billion US dollars. Inclusion of Terminal-3 increased annual passenger handling capacity of Dubai International Airport from 23 million passengers to 60 million. It should be noted that terminal 3 only handled Emirates airlines passenger until 2013. In the year 2013, Concourse A was built in the Terminal-3 that increased the passenger handling capacity and helped started catering its services to other selected airlines. It should be noted that with this new development passenger handling capacity of Terminal-3 increased to 75 million. A total cost of 3.3 billion US dollar was incurred. One should note that total cost of building Terminal-2 was 400 million US dollars, which is mostly used for chartered and special interest flights. Table 3.1 shows a detail summary of Terminal-1, Terminal-2 and Terminal-3.

Table 3.1 Summary of Terminal-1, Terminal-2, and Terminal-3.

Figure 3.2 Terminal 1 entrance.

Figure 3.3 Terminal 2 entrance.

Figure 3.4 Entrance of Terminal 3.

Design of Terminal-1 and Terminal-3

Terminal 1 can be reached by car, bus, and railway Metro. It provides 34 parking spaces for buses, and 2593 car parking spaces for public usage. In addition, Terminal-1 can connected to Red Line metro, which is connected to station with a skywalk as shown in Figure 3.5. Advantage of skywalk being that passenger need not go out in summer heat, instead they can walk through this air-conditioned skywalk without any discomfort. As, discusses earlier, Terminal 2 is least used among all the three terminals at the Dubai International Airport. Therefore, it has only 1073 parking spaces for public usage. Further, no connectivity is provided between termainal-2 entrance and station of Red Line Metro. On the other hand Terminal 3 has 1889 parking spaces for public usage and 44 bus parking for Emirates airline. In addition, Terminal 3 is also directly connected to Red Line Metro to help passenger.

On can note that Terminal 1 has more parking allocated to public than Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. On the other hand, Terminal 3 has less parking than Terminal-1, which suggests that travelers or passenger using Terminal 3 are mostly tourists. On the other hand more domestic and local passengers use the Terminal-1, which justifies more parking provided at Terminal 1 than Terminal 3. Further, Emirates airline provides good transit buses for tourists i.e. a total of 44 parking spaces are allocated to Emirates buses.

Figure 3.5 Terminal 1 skywalk connecting the entrance with Red Line Metro.

Figure 3.6 Terminal 3 skywalk and car park connecting Red Line Metro station with Terminal.

Similar to other airports, people prefer using car, taxi, and bus for reaching the Dubai International Airport. Study also found that people use taxi, car, and bus more than Red Line Metro, which seems to be more convenient than other forms of transport. However, one should note that metro on an average takes 15 to 15 minutes of transit time between Terminal-1, Terminal-2, and Terminal-3. In addition, Dubai International Airport provides limited parking spaces to private vehicles. Therefore, one can conclude that metro is more reliable than personal vehicle. Over the years, frequency of metro has increased. For example, Red Line Metro has grown from 560, 000 trips in the years 2010 to 1.4 million trips in 2012. In addition, trip of metro at Terminal-3 too has seen steady growth i.e. its frequency has increased from 740,000 trips to 880, 000 trips. Consequently, one should note that for reaching both the Terminals, people depend on Red Line Metro, which provides its reliable services. Figure 3.7 shows a schematic diagram of Red Line Metro connecting Terminal-1 and Terminal-3.

Terminal design of Dubai International Airport has strategically provided enough tolerance for future rise in passenger traffic. For example, in the year 2012, 57.7 million passengers were using service of Dubai International Airport, which increased to 75 million in the year 2016. Still there is enough floor capacity to hold 10 million more passenger in the coming years. Table 3.2 shows annual growth in passenger capacity at Dubai International Airport from 1960 to 2010. It can be seen from the Table 3.2 that capacity of airport was 0.04 million in the year 1960 that increased to 2.8 million in the year 1980. Further, by the year 2000 rapid increase in passenger capacity was a seen i.e. over 10 million passenger were using Dubai International Airport by year 2000; which further increased to over 47 million by 2010. In order to cope ever increasing passenger in flux, authorities have been investing and planning addition construction to increase the floor area space, Terminal-3 is a step towards it.

Figure 3.7 Map showing Red Line Metro connecting Terminal-1 and Terminal-3.

Figure 3.8 Annual passenger in-flux at Dubai International Airport.

Figure 3.9 shows map of Terminal-1 of Dubai International Airport. Interview and literature survey shows that over 100 airlines use terminal-1. Design capacity of Terminal-1 is 20 million passenger annually.

Design of Terminal-1

As can be seen from Figure 3.9, there are twelve two way entry-exit points at Terminal-1 of Dubai International Airport. One entry and exit point is specially reserved for the passenger who use Red Line Metro. In addition, two check-in ( at F) are reserved for first class and business passengers. One can also note that Airport Information counter is strategically placed in the middle of the Terminal-1; its strategic central location helps to reduce average walking distance of all the travelers, who seek help from the information counter. Further, food-court and restaurant are placed at second floor of Terminal-1. This planned location of restaurant reduces blockage from non-travelers to traveling passengers. In addition, Duty Free shopping area is located at corner of building i.e. one before check-in area and another at corner of second floor. This also help to reduce blockage to traveling passengers.

Therefore, passenger who have enough time left for departure can shop in these areas without blocking travelers. Store, at second floor is dedicated to buyers interested in electronic products; while, store at entrance of Red-line Metro captures attention of travelers who have enough time to buy duty free items and are not in hurry. Similarly, store after the check in counter grabs attention of passengers who might want to buy an item quickly before leaving for flight. At regular interval restrooms are provided for passengers to relax, as it is a necessity. In addition, a series of currency exchange counter are provided at regular intervals. On should note that check-in counter A to F, only allows passengers. Looking at the large in-flux a total of 63 check-in counters are provided at Terminal-1. In a distinction from other airports, Dubai International Airport provides siting area for elderly people at center of check-in area. Immediately after check-in one can find medical facility to help patients. However, over the years authorities have observed that only a limited number of passenger require medical attention after check-in; therefore, only one medical counter is provided. Further, immediately after check-in passenger go through a passage that leads them to immigration counter. Immediately after immigration and security clearance, passenger find escalators and elevators that leads them to departure area. One should note that at regular interval moving walkways and golf carts are provided to reduce walking stress of passengers.

Once passenger reach lower level at departure gate C, they find completely Duty Free area. It is reserved for Dubai Duty Free counters. At corner restrooms are provided allowing the passenger to first go through various duty free counters. One should also note that departure building is approximately 800 m long. Working personals of Dubai International Airport have observed that though departure gates C1 to C44 are strategically placed, but presence of walkway passage does interfere with passenger line just before gates are opened. Therefore, there is some design improvement that can be incorporated in future.

Between gate C-15 and C-17 a 88 room hotel is provided with facilities like gym, health club, pool, and other luxury services. According to authorities of Dubai International Airport, these rooms serve passenger, who need to stay over-night to catch flight.

Figure 3.9 Design layout of Terminal-1 of Dubai International Airport.

Figure 3.10 shows design of Arrival section of Terminal-1. One should note that there are three classes of passenger arriving into terminal-1 i.e. those who want to go to Terminal-3 to catch connecting Emirates flight; second, those who want to go to departure of terminal-1 and third, those who want to go to claim baggage and exit. In the passage along to exit of arrival, Arabian Adventures are provided that provides marketing to tourism in Dubai. All passenger passing towards exit are divided into two groups i.e. UAE nationals and non-USE nationals at Gate-E. However, during peak hours one need not follow this setup. This flexibility helps in dealing passenger in-flux during peak hours. As passengers wait for baggage claim they can spend time in Duty Free area.

Figure 3.10 Design of departure section of Terminal-1.

Design of Terminal-3

As discussed in the introduction section, Terminal-3 supports Emirates airlines. Recently, this terminal underwent expansion to accommodate 55 million passengers annually. In addition, to Emirates it also supports Qantas airline. It is expect that in near future Terminal-3 would support annually 90 million passengers. In this respect Concourse D is being completed. Figure 3.11 shows schematic design of Terminal-3.

One can note that there is big difference in the design of check-in are of Terminal 1 and Terminal-3. This design change is based on the fact that different kind of users use Terminal-1 and Terminal-3. First, difference being in number of entry exit points. Terminal-3 has only 5 entry and exit point; while, Terminal-1 has 12 entry and exit points. However, this reduced number of entry and exit point is compensated from the fact that the entry and exit point are much wider than entry and exit points of Terminal-1. Therefore, it can be concluded that even though Terminal-3 provides only 5 entry and exit point but the width recovers this drawback at time of emergency and peak hour passenger in-flux. Further, Terminal-3 provides self-check-in counters. This is primarily to serve executive client of Emirates airline, who expect such services. Nevertheless, Terminal-3 too provides separate entry and exit passage to first class and business passengers. However, there is big difference in the manner in which this has been implemented at Dubai International Airport. At Terminal-3 passage for economy and business class passengers are completely separated into two separate buildings. Therefore, it can be concluded that at Terminal-3 business class passenger get more privilege. It should be noted that less focus is paid on marketing at Terminal-3 in pre-check-in area. In addition, similar to Terminal-1, Terminal-3 too provided moveable walkway for passenger moving to check-in counters. Further, similar to Terminal-1, seats are provided for elderly to sit near check-in. Another difference between design of Terminal-1 and Terminal-3 is that passage is completely separated from facilities such as medical, information counters, and restaurants. This helps to keep flying passenger separate from non-passengers. Another major difference between Terminal-3 and Terminal-1 being the number of self-check-in counter. A total of 126 check-in counters are provided; out of it 36 are self-check-in counter, which is completely absent at Terminal-1.

Unlike, Terminal-1 the Dubai-Duty Free area is closer to departure gates at Terminal-3. This allows passenger to show, while waiting for their flight. This design is possible at Terminal-3 because there is enough floor space at terminal which is absent at Terminal-1. Further, this terminal provides 253 rooms with swimming and gym facility. One should note that Terminal-1 provides only 88 rooms for passengers, which is much lower in comparison to Terminal-3. In addition, Terminal 3 provides airport train at gates B. C, D, and F; while, such as facility is absent at Terminal-1.

The departure gates of Terminal-1 and Terminal-3 are similar with compacted service area, which gives more space to the passengers to move. Nevertheless, Terminal-3 scores over Terminal-1 is the design as it provides more moving walkways.

Arrival section of Terminal-3 receives two kind of visitors, one who move to transit section to catch connecting flights and others who move to baggage claim section. Arrival is below departure floor; therefore, passenger who have connecting flight need to move up a floor. Similar to Terminal-1, less services are provided at arrival section as passengers are not expect to stay and wait in this area.

Figure 3.11 Design of Terminal-3.

Comparison of Dubai International Airport with World

Dubai International Airport has been having significant passenger and cargo traffic over a decade now. During the questionnaire survey a lot of questions were asked pertaining to competitiveness of Dubai International Airport in comparison to other airports. Table 3.3 shows that despite economic slowdown Dubai International Airport experienced growth. For example, more than 125 airlines use the services of Dubai International Airport, which was only 90 in the year 2000 (Albeshr and Ahmad, 2015). In addition, the number of destinations it connects worldwide has risen from 130 to more than 2000 by the year 2008. In addition, the statistics are staggering when we look at the number of passengers and amount of cargo it handled in the recent years in comparison to recent past i.e. year 2000. For example, in recent time it handled 1.82 million tonnes of cargo and more than 40 million passenger; while, it only handled over 500 million tonnes of cargo in the year 2000 and just over 12 million passenger.

Figure 3.12 shows the trend of cargo movement at Dubai International Airport. It can be seen from the curve that from 2000 to 2001 there was a minor increase in annual cargo passing through the Dubai International Airport. In coming years this trend saw a tremendous increase in annual cargo capacity of the Dubai International Airport. For example, the tonnes of cargo being handled in the year 2000 at Dubai International Airport increased from 0.6 to 2 tonnes by years 2009. One should note that the Dubai International Airport maintained good growth rate both in passenger and cargo sectors. Table 3.3 compares data from 2015 for the passenger growth rate of various international airports worldwide and compares it to that of Dubai International Airport. It clearly shows that Dubai International Airport observed a growth rate of 19.3% in the year 2007; while, growth of major airports such as Atlanta, London, and Tokyo were only 5.3%, 0.8%, and 1.1% respectively.

Figure 3.12 Annual inflow of cargo at Dubai International Airport.

Figure 3.13 Annual passenger in flow at Dubai International Airport.

Table 3.2 Passenger in flow rate at International Airports worldwide for year 2007, when economy was down worldwide (Huang et al., 2013).

Technological Factors

This research also investigated technological changes in the infrastructure of Dubai International Airport and compares it with recent infrastructural changes in UAE. Both private and public sector have significantly invested in infrastructure and technological changes information and technology. For example, UAE has completely modernized power and telecommunication infrastructure with fiber optics, mobile technology, and internet communications. This reflects in the fact that among all the nations in the Middle East, UAE is ranked at top by the World Economic Forum in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI). In order to improve quality and skill of workforce, technology plays a vital role in education industry. In addition, computer and internet connectivity is considered to de tools for achieving growth. It should be noted that a total of 800,000 internet connection were active during the year 2007, according to secondary data collected from authorities. In order to increase internet users, UAE government has established free zone model such as Dubai Internet City and Dubai Media City.

In addition to above technological advances there has been significant development in the technologies of aviation industry. In this respect, government has invested timely to improve services at the Dubai International airport. One such development was inclusion of Airbus A380, which has expanded the passenger and cargo carrying capacity of Dubai International Airport. In addition, Airbus A380 helps in reaching and connecting with far of places worldwide (Hickson, 2015). In addition, UAE has also welcomed and made infrastructural changes for Boeing 777-300ER, Airbus A320-200, and A340-600 (Zanin and Lillo, 2013). This has also helped in increasing overall passenger and cargo capacity of each planes and overall services at Dubai International Airport.

Discussion on Government Support

Dubai International Airport is formally owned by the Dubai government (Hvidt, 2009). Therefore, one expects regular financial help and regulatory norms to run its services. However, authorities of Dubai International Airport ensure that it works like a commercial organization. Till date airport authorities have ensured to keep control of airline in their hands. This is particularly different from other government organizations that are heavily regulated by government policies. Therefore, due to above facts, authorities of Dubai International Airport focus more on profit, efficiency, cost and quality of services. Nevertheless, one cannot ignore the help of government agencies who also ensure minimal interference with internal policies of the Dubai International Airport.

In the questionnaire survey many senior authorities consider government help is a very big advantage for the successful operation of Dubai International Airport. This reflects in the fact that most development projects at the Dubai International Airport is financially supported by government of Dubai (Nasra and Dacin, 2010). It should be noted that in the upcoming years, the aviation industry will undergo major challenges in airports, airline, and air traffic. Further, it is expected that twenty years from now, the number of passenger using services of Dubai International Airport would increase by four times present capacity. In addition, scenario in the Middle East suggests that other airport are not having advantage to exploit or face upcoming challenge; therefore, Dubai International Airport would come long way to help face upcoming challenges of this region. This becomes increasingly important from the fact that over last 10 years international tourist have increased. According to World Trade Organization (WTO), number of tourists traveling to Middle East countries has tripled from 1995 till date (Zhang and Jensen, 2007). Therefore, it can be concluded that tourism will be major driver of economic growth in this region. Government of Dubai knows that presence of Dubai International Airport in the Middle East region makes it highest grosser of profit coming from these tourist and travelers. In this regard, Dubai International Airport has opened Dubai Duty Free area, which is very popular among the travelers.

Above discussion clearly states that there is tremendous challenge ahead for Dubai International Airport. In this respect, government funding and favoring policies help in meeting the challenges of future.

Summary

In this chapter, research work concentrated on analyzing and presenting data gathered from the questionnaire survey. First, this chapter presented a detailed comparison of Terminal-1 and Terminal-3 of Dubai International Airport. Based on comparison, it can be concluded that Dubai International Airport has strategically built two terminals for handling increasing number of visitors. Terminal-3 is new addition, which has helped to increase service standard of this airport and at the same time it has shared the load of Terminal-3. However, there are some areas in which authorities need to work; for example, departure area of Terminal-1 does not have space for standing; most, passengers face interference with passengers on the walkway.

Further, this chapter compared overall passenger and cargo traffic of Dubai International Airport in recent decade. In addition, this work also compared passenger and cargo load of Dubai International Airport with other major international airports across the world. Discussion clearly states that cargo and passenger traffic has clearly increased at a substantial rate. In the end of this chapter, a detail discussion on government policies were put.

CHAPTER 4

Facts and Findings

Introduction

Previous chapters show that Dubai International Airport has following important infrastructure namely two runways, a cargo terminal (Terminal-2), two passenger terminal (Terminal-1 and Terminal-3), and air traffic control tower. Terimal-2 is most for use of chartered and mid range flights destined to regional locations. Long distance flights are managed by terminal-1 and terminal-3. In the previous chapter, a detailed design analysis of Terminal- and Terminal-3 was presented. Present chapter discusses growth of Dubai International Airport, its overall infrastructure, its impact on society, and environmental factors related to aviation industry. In addition, presently three airlines namely Emirates, SkyCargo and Flydubai are based in Dubai International Airport (O’Connell, 2011a).

Infrastructure and Facilities

Presently, over 122 airlines serve passengers and take them to over 200 different destinations worldwide. Terminal-3 is dedicated to Emirates airline which comprises of concourses 2 and concourses . One should note that all passenger using terminal-3 are international travels; therefore, immigration and custom service is provided. There is another center that is being built, it will handle special requirement of flower cargo known as Dubai Flower Centre. Some facilities for cargo include Dubai Cargo City it supports both business and cargo services.

Literature review and questionnaire survey clearly shows that a successful airport needs to provide wide variety of services and facilities. During the questionnaire survey, it was clear that Dubai International Airport do provide all the necessary facilities; in addition, it also provides some rare resources. For example, Dubai International Airport provides facility to accommodate Airbus-A380, which is a wide body aircraft. Emirates is first and largest buyer of this Airbus, which is housed at Dubai International Airport. Therefore, it can be concluded that Dubai International Airport is first such airport in the world to provide and develop infrastructure to accommodate such large aircraft which occupies large area both during holding and operation.

It has been observed that hotel facility is unique part in the success of Dubai International Airport. In addition to baggage handling and cargo traffic, hotel accommodation provides special service to first class travelers. Even though, there are many hotel outside the airport, but travelers prefer using room facility provided by Dubai International Airport at Terminal-1 and Terminal-3. It should be noted that these hotels in the passage of Dubai International Airport s are equipped with modern facilities such as swimming and gym.

In this regard, Al-MajlisVIP and Dubai Cargo City provides service to selected and users such as users who are affluent, leisure and corporate travelers. It has private lounges, meeting room, and duty free series such as escorted immigration. Further, Dubai International Airport provides advanced facilities to private aircraft such as private jets, VIP car park, hanger space, and conference center. These facilities are handled by authorities at the Executive Flights Centre (EFC) at terminal-2. Dubai International Airport faces passenger traffic on daily basis; in this respect, radio frequency identification of baggage proves promising solution to baggage handling section. Radio frequency identification comprises of three components namely backend application, reader, and tag (Konsynski and Smith, 2003). Tag stores data and antenna in a microchip (Banerjee and Jha, 2006). Tag is assigned a unique identification number that stores vital information such as date, price, product, and time. The reader comprises of control unit, RF module, and a coupling unit, which intercept tag with help of RF communication. Radio frequency identification scores over traditional barcode technique (Kanno et al., 2016). It had found wide application in aviation industry. It is estimated that with application of radio frequency identification system, there would be substantial decrease in number of lost or misplaced baggage. In this regard, International Air Transport Association is considering to implement it at worldwide level.

According to authorities internal revenue generation is an important aspect to the success of Dubai International Airport. Dubai International Airport generates income from various internal sources such as duty free shops, hotels, car parking services and other luxury services. In the literature review many research works too point to this fact that revenue is substantially generated from non-aviation related activities. At Dubai International Airport this has been possible because of government support and strategic business planning. In an questionnaire head of Terminal-3 said that approximately 2 billion worth of revenue was generated from duty free area, and this has remained steady every year since 2008. This is further supported from the fact that Dubai Duty Free is ranked third in global market (Strong and Himber, 2009). It has annual turnover of approximately US$ 565 which has grown in double digit every year. Al Majlis has helped in generating AED 33.13 million worth revenue and it has served over seventy thousand passengers annually. Addition revenue is generated from hotel in the in-terminal area. A comparative study shows that Dubai International Airport generates on an average more revenue than other airports in the Middle-East and African region.

Dubai International Airport aims to serve over 100 million passenger by year 2025 annually (Henderson, 2007). In this regard, it has recently upgraded landing system which is considered as innovative and unique system (Lohmann et al., 2009). Dubai International Airport is first airport to implement CATIIIB auto landing system (Blomenhofer, 1996). It permits continued service even in very low visibility say for example 50 m. With CAT-IIIB landing system, airplanes can operate in visibility as low as 50 m (Shively, 2001). This has substantially improved operation under foggy conditions. According to CEO, this system can be further upgraded to help airplanes operate even in zero visibility conditions.

One should note that it is remarkable that Dubai International Airport has ability to take such heavy upgrades in short time interval with help of its loyal contractors and government’s financial support.

Human Resource of Dubai International Airport

Experienced and knowledgeable employees of Dubai International Airport add to growth of this firm (Boudreau et al., 2016). This section discusses human resources at Dubai International Airport. Chairman and CEO bring their experience in enhancing operations at airport. They have decades of aviation industry experience in a wide variety of operation and research areas. This majorly explains strategic ties Dubai International Airport has with its partners. These administrators have years of experience in working under able leadership of Sheikh Al-Maktoum, who has brought his great influence to work in aviation industry. He has very strong influence in the internal matters of Dubai International Airport. In addition, CEO brings his international and external experience to enhance working as a CEO. Most senior authorities have working experience in London Gatwick Airprot, Virgin Group and Hong Kong aviation sector. Leadership starts at top and presence of these abled leaders helps in efficient working condition at the Dubai International Airport.

Above discussion clearly states that presence of able leaders at top puts Dubai International Airport in an advantage situation. They have rare set of skills, resources, and connections. Such people are involved in making important decisions pertaining to structure and management of airport. During the questionnaire subjects revealed that important decision are taken by CEO in consultation with Sheikh. Mostly CEO takes decision pertaining to day to day activities; while, future planning decision are taken after discussion with Sheikh Al-Maktoum, who is major decision maker of Dubai International Airport. Table 4.1 shows list of top management designations and their responsibilities.

This research work found that at Dubai International Airport, there are host of skilled managerial and human resources at all levels of operation and management. This demonstrates strong human capital Dubai International Airport has and the reason behind its success. Further, management of Dubai International Airport believes in creating a multi-cultural working environment by bring human resource from all over the world.

Table 4.1 Vice-President and top management of Dubai International Airport.

Summary of Competitive Advantage

Table 4.2 lists competitive advantage of Dubai International Airport that has added to its growth. Nevertheless, there are many challenges that can reduce efficiency of resources. One major challenge is financial help, over the years government funding has reduced which majorly supports expansion activities of Dubai International Airport. Even though, there has not been any recent decline in air traffic at the airport, but this reduced financial add from government could possibly hamper development and growth of Dubai International Airport in future. This due to fact the revenue directly depends on passenger and cargo traffic; if the volume of cargo and passenger traffic drops at Dubai International Airport, it will be forced to look for additional financial help.

Table 4.2 Resources of Dubai International Airport and its advantages.

This chapter highlighted major findings from this research in the field of infrastructure and human resource at Dubai International Airport. Discussion clearly states that presently Dubai International Airport has sufficient infrastructure and human resource to continue its growth. However, reduced financial help from the Dubai government would force authorities to look for other options to generate fiancé. Nevertheless, with presence of able management and human resource it looks to find its way in future and keep the growth rate steady.

CHAPTER 5

Conclusion and Suggestions

Findings from this research states that Dubai International Airport has achieved significant milestones and growth since its start of operations. Discussion and questionnaire survey also reveals that human resource and presence of experienced management has led to its growth. It is a major factor that has helped Dubai International Airport to outperform many of its competitors in the Middle-East region. Analysis of this research looked into following aspects namely, design of terminal-1 and terminal-2, it also looked into its resource of revenue generation, and human resource. Deep analysis of operation and management of Dubai International Airport reveals a strong internal management system and financial support.

This research model can help other airport to learn from the success story of Dubai International Airport. Since its start operation Dubai International Airport has seen tremendous growth and it is also expanding its infrastructure to support future in-flux of passengers and cargo. An estimation states that by 2025 Dubai International Airport would need to serve more than 100 million passenger annually. In this respect major infrastructure changes are being done; recent addition of terminal-3 is an example of such a development.

Nevertheless, there are many challenges too that needs to be overcome. For example, over the year Dubai government financial help to airport has reduced; this has led to major steps that could generate internal revenue for sustainable development of Dubai International Airport. Facilities at Dubai International Airport are unique when compared to other international airport, presence of hotel in the terminal-1 and terminal-3 with facility of meeting and conference room is one such example.

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