How has Dubai International performed during the economic slowdown?
Well, we had four new airlines start operations in the first quarter plus some carriers such as Emirates started additional services. Passenger traffic in the first quarter saw growth of 2.3% compared to the first quarter of 2008 and if you look at the top 10 airports (in terms of passenger traffic) in the world, Dubai Airport (which is number six) was the only airport to report positive growth. Number one, Atlanta, which carries 89 million passengers annually saw negative growth and Seoul airport saw a growth decline of 15%. This has proved that things are going well for us.


What have you done to stop transit passengers (with smelly feet) loitering in the terminal and lounging around making the place look untidy?

[Look of shock] We have had some problems with visas in that people were forging them and then these people were hanging around the airport and lying on the floor. So we have made it the responsibility of the airline to make sure passengers have a visa and if not, they have to fly them back. We have created a separate lounge for transit passengers and we feed and shower them. We want to eliminate the problem.


How will Dubai’s new Metro system (set to open on September 9) improve the customer experience at the airport?

We hope it will have a significant impact for passengers and staff. We would love to do a park and ride and are talking to the RTA about this. We are in constant discussion about improving the roads around the airport. We really need a system that will bypass the airport for those not travelling there.

Story continues below
Advertisement


Will there be a train line linking the two Dubai airports?

We don’t expect a huge amount of traffic to flow between the two, but in time, we will make a rail link. What I would really like to see is a pan-Emirates high-speed railway and we are strongly supporting a rail project of this kind – it would stretch from Abu Dhabi all the way to Ras Al Khaimah with links on the way. It’s being discussed at Federal level but there is a problem in that it’s not invented here [and therefore there is not as much interest as if it was a new concept].


Were there really thousands of cars dumped at Dubai airport when the recession kicked in earlier this year?

There are always a number of cars abandoned at the airport but we haven’t seen an increase in numbers. It was a sensationalist story. If there were 3,000 Mercedes outside the airport I would be a car dealer by now!


What is the most difficult part of your job?

I think the thing is that what we are doing today is building the capacity of this existing airport to 80 million and [taking steps to] dramatically improve the level of service we provide, while at the same time, building the world’s biggest airport and the world’s biggest infrastructure project. To do that well we need to really empower, motivate and train our staff well. We want to equip the next generation of leaders with the skills to be able to run these projects without the help of myself or external influence. Already, 70% of my management team is Emirati and we don’t plan to diminish that. At the moment, I feel like I am working on a very difficult jigsaw and I’ve been given all the components to fit together, but no one has given me the box with the picture on the front so I know what it looks like.