Work is under way to make Dubai’s airport the world’s most busiest in terms of the number of passengers who use it. By the end of 2007, more than 34.3 million passengers traveled through the airport — this in spite of the fact that officials at the airport expected only 25 million passengers. The airport is listed as the fastest growing in the world. With the new expansion, its capacity is expected to reach 90 million, instead of 25 million.
By 2010, Doha plans to finish the first stage of a new airport, which will have a capacity of 24 million passengers a year. According to Qatar Airways’ executive president, the number will be increased to 50 million by 2015.
In the Kingdom, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah recorded 15 million passengers in 2007, King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh recorded 11 million passengers and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam recorded 3.5 million passengers. There is no need to mention how many passengers traveled through Prince Muhammad Airport in Madinah, which in any case is not very huge. The language of numbers does not lie. The total number of travelers through Dubai is more than the total number of our four international airports together. This is despite the fact that the Kingdom is much larger than the UAE. We also have Umrah and Haj. When you see the type of services at the airports in Dubai and Doha, you will know why airline companies have chosen these airports as transit points and why passengers fly through them. Compare them to our best airports and the only thing we see is overcrowding, poor organization, a lack of simple services and, not to mention, rude treatment.
The problem with our airports is the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA), which has managed it for many decades. The GACA is run by bureaucrats who hate change and do not believe in competition. The body is wasting huge amounts of money from its government budget for expansion and maintenance.
Aviation is an industry in itself. If we are going to approve the open sky policy, then our airports should look presentable. We have the ability to join the race again and perform satisfactorily.
