HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has unveiled the
masterplan for the Middle East’s largest executive jet centre at the
Middle East Business Aviation exhibition at Airport Expo Dubai.HH unveiled a model of the world class facility which will be among the
industry’s best competing with Van Nuys in California, Teterboro in New
York, Le Bourget in France and Farnborough in the UK.

The Executive Jet Centre will be built at the US$ 33 billion Dubai World
Central, the 140 square kilometre urban aviation city taking shape at
Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, home to the dedicated flight
centre designed to be a one-stop centre for business jet operations.

The Executive Jet Centre will be built adjacent to the Dubai World
Central International Airport (JXB), which will be the world’s largest
airport being the size of Chicago’s O’Hare and London Heathrow combined.

‘Going by recent industry trends, the Middle East’s burgeoning business
aviation sector will see further growth and we need to be prepared,’
said Sheikh Ahmed.

‘Dubai World Central will lead the way in the region by providing
world-class executive jet facilities that will rival the very best in
the world.’

Global interest in the facility has been high, according to Khalifa Al
Zaffin, Director of Projects and Engineering, Department of Civil
Aviation, Government of Dubai.

‘The Executive Jet Centre will be one of the biggest in the world in
terms of expected traffic with a handling capacity in excess of 100,000
aircraft movements a year - a statistic big enough to attract all the
important players worldwide,’ explained Al Zaffin.

‘The facility is expected to be operational by end-2008. It will include
a dedicated duty-free, business centre, fitness room, food outlets and
crew rest areas. The Executive Flight Centre will also feature a
specific area for executive helicopter and heli-taxi operations.

Work on the first JXB runway, due for completion end of this year, is
50% complete. The 4.5 kilometre CAT III runway is designed to handle the
new generation Airbus A380 aircraft and will enable JXB, and its
adjacent Dubai Logistics City to commence operations as the world’s
largest freighter airport and logistics hub.

The US$ 8.1 billion JXB has been designed to handle in excess of 120
million passengers and 12 million tons of cargo annually.
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