Dubai World Central – a massive, multi-phase development centred around what will be the world’s largest international airport – Tuesday made urban planning history when the final master-plan and branding of the 140 square kilometre city, almost twice the size of Hong Kong Island, was unveiled at Arabian Traveltravel and tourism exhibition. Market 2006 – the Middle East’s premier

The self-sustaining development at Jebel Ali, some 40 kilometres south of Dubai city centre, includes Dubai World Central International Airport (JXB) – which when complete will be the world’s largest with a capacity equal to that currently of Chicago’s O’Hare and London’s Heathrow – and a cluster of specialised zones. Dubai World Central will be a new city where eventually some 750,000 people will live and work – that’s more than the present population of Frankfurt and almost that of Stockholm. The master plan, now refined, originally had a working title of Jebel Ali Airport City.

It is designed to support Dubai’s aviation, tourism, commercial and logistics requirements until 2050 and infrastructure costs alone will run to $33 billion.

At the heart of Dubai World Central is Dubai World Central International Airport (JXB) – which will be the world’s largest passenger and cargo hub with a design capacity of over 12 million tons of cargo a year and in excess of 120 million passengers annually and capable of handling all new generation aircraft, including the A380 super jumbo.

This new facility will be 10 times the size of the current Dubai International Airport and Dubai Cargo Village combined. Its passenger capacity of over 120 million passengers a year can be judged in context alongside the world’s busiest airport Atlanta which in 2004, for which the latest figures are available, handled 83.5 million passengers.

© 2006 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)