Dubai opens world's first A380 concourse

On Wednesday, the departure of Emirates flight EK003 to London Heathrow marked the start of flights from the facility, known as Concourse A. The new extension to Terminal 3, featuring 20 gates specifically designed to accommodate the long-haul planes, will open gradually, with just four gates operational at the moment, Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths said in a statement.

Operating from a terminal built specifically to handle the A380 will speed up boarding times for travellers and ease congestion in gate rooms not originally built for the high-capacity aircraft, which seats about 500 passengers.

The new concourse, which spreads across 11 floors with a total area of 528,000 square metres, will also be available to A380 flights to Europe operated by Australia's Qantas, as per the global partnership announced recently and awaiting the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Emirates said.

"Just as we did with what turned out to be a flawless opening of Terminal 3 and Concourse B in 2008 - which was a much larger and more complex exercise involving the complete transfer of Emirates airline's operations to the new facility - we are opening Concourse A in stages with more gates coming online in each successive phase.

"We believe that this approach of gradual transition will enable us and all our partners to ensure smooth operations and help us to deliver on our customer service commitment."

He added that as the world's first A380 facility Concourse A was a "huge achievement for Dubai Airports and its partners".

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group and chairman of Dubai Airports, added: "This is an historic and momentous occasion, marking another world first from Emirates.

"We are confident that our customers will find the new concourse to be a remarkable world class facility befitting of our flagship Emirates A380 aircraft."

The government-owned carrier is the largest operator of A380s, with a fleet of 31 and another 59 on order. This week CAPA Centre for Aviation issued a report saying Emirates could become the world's second-biggest carrier in terms of capacity if the past year's growth rates are maintained.

CAPA also reported that Dubai International is the fifth largest airport in the world as measured by total seats. Dubai Airports has estimated that 57 million passengers used the airport in 2012, and it has earmarked $7.8bn to further expand the capacity of the international travel hub, with the aim of handling 75 million passengers by 2015 and 98 million by 2020.