Dubai: Dubai Airports is planning to launch Concourse 4 at Dubai International Airport as part of its masterplan to be revealed this year, Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, told Gulf News.

Asked how soon the masterplan would be revealed, he said: "We are working on it at the moment. It's a very involved process. It could take several months. We are hoping it would be out this year."

Dubai Airports incorporates Dubai International and the eagerly-awaited Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International.



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Griffiths said the masterplan would help the group reach its goal of 90 million passengers by 2018. "That's the whole idea," he said.

Dubai International currently has two concourses, and the third is due to open in late 2012.

Elaborating on the plans for Concourse 4, Griffiths told Gulf News: "Concourse 4 is a part of the masterplan discussion. So I can't attach an exact timeline to it. There is a lot of fairly intricate planning we have to do to sequence the construction beyond there.

"And once that happens, Emirates will then take over Concourses 1, 2 and 3 at Dubai International. That's the plan."

Growth plan

Dubai Airports on Tuesday announced its ten-year traffic forecast for Dubai International and Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International (DWC) that projects international passenger and cargo traffic will increase at an average annual growth rate of 7.2 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively, outperforming industry projections for average annual growth of five per cent globally.

By 2020 passenger numbers at Dubai International Airport will reach 98.5 million and cargo volumes will top 4.1 million tonnes, it said.



Capacity

In terms of Dubai International's capacity, which currently is 60 million passengers, it is expected to increase to "75 million passengers by the end of 2012," with the opening of Concourse 3, Griffiths said.

"We hope to take it up to about 90 million by 2018. That's the goal," Griffiths added.

He said Dubai International was forecast to become the world's busiest by 2015.

Currently it is the fourth busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger traffic and fourth in international cargo, offering connections to more than 220 destinations by more than 150 airlines.