This means the opening of the gates of this prestigious facility will be at least more than 2.5 years behind original schedule. According to Roland Zibell of Switzerland-based ADI Consulting GmbH, who is responsible for planning the project, the basic infrastructure for commencing commercial flight operation is practically ready. It comprises a runway of 4,500 metres, part of the apron with stands for aircraft, a yearly 600,000 tonne capacity offering warehousing for air freight throughput and a passenger terminal for low cost traffic.
However, Dubai World Central is far behind schedule due to the widening gap between project management and physical construction work, criticises Zibell. “It does not suffice to just build a tower. You’ve got to hire skilled personnel, train and coach the people properly, commence a series of test flights and have the tower registered by IATA.“Th ese bundles of necessary activities have been widely underestimated by the local authorities at Dubai,†he said.
Another problem popped up with the clay. “When they started excavating the ground for installing the drainage pipes they unexpectedly bumped into layers of solid clay in some meters depth that was extremely tough to get out.â€Â
But instead of bringing in adequate equipment he says, the teams continued to work like they did before when they were shoveling desert sand instead of lumpy clay which they now had to cope with. This lead to further delays that affected not only the airport’s schedule but also the building of roads to connect the site with downtown Dubai. As a result, construction work fell far behind plan.
Another plan that has stalled is the bonded road of roughly 40 km to link the future Dubai World Central with the existing Dubai International Airport. “The first sod has not been turned yetâ€Â, confirms SkyCargo’s Ram Menen. This project is vital for fast transfers of cargo shipments from aircraft to aircraft, something Emirates SkyCargo is very eager to see realised as soon as possible.
