Dubai’s main airport closure will lead to a temporary economic slowdown

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Dubai International, the emirate’s main airport, will cut down its traffic over the next few months. The news was announced by the airport’s officials yesterday in Dubai. The reason for the temporary traffic reduction is the resurfacing and other construction works of the runways.

The traffic cut-down and the new flight schedule will go in force on May 1 and it will continue until July 20, which conveniently coincides with the final days of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid celebrations. The timing for the necessary maintenance could not have been better chosen.

Even though the changes will not be permanent, a number of concerns have already surfaced. Apart from the inconvenience which Dubai International passengers may experience, the closure of the airport has another setback. The air traffic reduction can easily result in a temporary economic slowdown for Dubai.

Dubai is seen as a center of both trade and tourism in the country and the entire Middle East region. Therefore, the reduction of the passenger traffic will have a direct effect on the city’s economy. Hotels, restaurants and retail outlets will see reduced revenues. One may argue that the Ramadan is anyway a slow for business month, but the airport’s closure will stretch from May 1st, still active season with a number of big exhibitions underway.

In addition, Dubai International is currently the second busiest airport in the world. Only in 2013, it served around 66.4 million people, which places it just after London’s famous Heathrow airport. Given that the closure will reduce the amount of flights handled by Dubai’s main airport by 26% for nearly three months, the economic slowdown is not likely to be insignificant.

Carriers will also be affected by the new schedule of Dubai International. A number of them will have to transfer their flights to the newly opened Al Maktoum International Airport. Presently, the Dubai’s second airport serves over 80 flights a week. However, when the changes kick in, this number is expected to jump to 600 a week.

Nevertheless, Dubai’s Al Maktoum will not be able to handle all the flights that will need to be diverted. Therefore, some of them may even be cancelled during the construction work period at Dubai International.

For travelers, the closure of the main airport means triple taxi fares to new airport. From the Dubai Mall the one way taxi fare is approximately 140 Dirhams.

Airlines have already started getting ready for the upcoming changes. Dubai’s main carrier Emirates, for instance, will reduce its fleet by around 10% over the next few months due. This will certainly decrease the revenue of the airline. It may also cause elevated airfares.

Last May, Dubai International saw a traffic of over 31,000 aircrafts. However, due to the runway construction works, this May the airport is predicted to witness a more modest figure.

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