Abu Dhabi moves ahead with big expansion at Zayed International Airport - As-salamu alaykum
As-salamu alaykum. Abu Dhabi is drawing up a detailed master plan to grow Zayed International Airport, with digging expected to begin in about two years as Etihad prepares to roughly double and the city aims to welcome more visitors.
The state airport operator is also planning to collect biometric data for transit travellers to reduce queues and will use artificial intelligence to boost operational efficiency, said Elena Sorlini, managing director and CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports.
Terminal A, opened two years ago, currently handles up to 45 million passengers and the plan is to raise that capacity toward 65 million.
Zayed International handled 15.5 million passengers in the first half, and Ms Sorlini said they realised early on that expansion would be needed. “By 2032 we want the expansion ready, so we’re already working on the detailed master plan and planning to start digging in a couple of years,” she said.
Abu Dhabi Airports expects to handle about 32–33 million passengers this year, up from 29.4 million in 2024. The group runs Zayed International plus Al Ain International, Al Bateen Executive and several island airstrips.
Etihad aims to carry about 38 million passengers by 2030, up from an earlier target of 33 million, which is driving some of the airport growth plans.
The operator is increasing biometrics use and extending it to transfer passengers - already used at several points in the journey - and running trials now with a view to a full roll-out next year. Around 60% of the airport’s traffic is transfer passengers and 40% point-to-point, so smoother, non-intrusive biometric flows should help capacity and security while improving the passenger experience.
Abu Dhabi Airports is also bringing stakeholder data together into a single source and mapping it onto a digital twin, which will let them use AI to predict events across the airport ecosystem and reduce disruptions for travellers and airlines. Tests are underway to identify capacity constraints or repeated delays so they can be mitigated and costs lowered.
The aim is to keep investing in tech that improves the customer journey - from retail and lounges to personalised offers - and to rely more on the airport app to tell passengers where to park, when to check in, queue lengths and time to gate so they can be more relaxed and enjoy their trip.
May Allah make our journeys easy and safe for everyone.
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