After a test run last month (see story), the world's first purpose-built A380 facility has opened this week at Dubai International Airport.
The 11-storey Concourse A, part of Terminal 3, offers 528,000 sqm in floor area and exclusively serves Emirates' A380 passengers (along with its new global partner Qantas) with expanded duty free shopping, dining options, full-service Timeless Spa, hotels and other amenities. It is the first A380-dedicated facility of its kind in the world. Other interesting facts:
Construction budget: AED11 billion (US$3 billion)
Number of gates: 20
Number of remote stands: 13
Number of airline counters: 50
Number of hotel rooms: 32 five-star units and 170 four-star ones
Retail area: about 11,000 sqm
Number of restaurants: 2 (excluding food courts and bars)
Yearly passenger capacity: 15 million
Among the most outstanding features of this facility are perhaps the lounges. The business class lounge seats over 2,550 and, other than the usual amenities, features a conference room, showcase kitchens, juice bars, children’s play area, dedicated smoking area and Ezone for computer games. The first class lounge, with capacity for up to 1491, has two conference rooms as well as Timeless Spa offering 15 treatment rooms, a wine cellar operated by Le Clos, dedicated duty free shopping area and a cigar lounge.
Currently Emirates has 31 A380s, and another 59 on order. In East Asia, the airline flies the superjumbo to Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, Melbourne and Singapore.
Reggie Ho
