Winner of the “Best Airport in the Middle East” award in 2013, Abu Dhabi International Airport, located a few kilometers from the capital, is -together with the port of Dubai- one of the airports with the highest growth rate in the world. To date, along with the national air company Etihad Airways, more than 53 airlines operate in the Gulf airport, connecting Abu Dhabi with 85 cities in 49 different States, with an estimate of over 14.7 million passengers in transit per year. During 2014, the main traveled routes, departing from the capital of the UAE, were Jeddah, Doha, Bangkok, Manila and London Heathrow. The direct flights to Italy, operated by Alitalia in partnership with Etihad Airways, are mainly to Rome’s Fiumicino airport (4 weekly flights) and Milan’s Malpensa airport (14 weekly flights). There is an ongoing negotiation to add Bologna to the new main routes connecting Italy with the United Arab Emirates.
The local government has recently launched an expansion plan of the UAE airport for US $ 6.8 billion, which is part of a program of economic diversification known as Gulf Strategic Plan 2030. The project will involve, among other works, the construction of a new terminal, the “Midfield“, which owes its name to the fact that it will be built in the middle of the two already existing runways, and for the exclusive use of Etihad. The facility, which spreads over an area of about 28,000 square meters, will also include a large gallery of shops, restaurants and duty-free shops, with a central hall as big as three football fields, up to 52 meters high and visible from a distance of over 1.5 km. The Emir has set the peremptory date of 17th July 2017 for the inauguration of the Midfield project.
(Bologna Office – Linda Tontodonati – +39(0)512750020).
