UAE. Dubai Airports celebrates the first anniversary of at Dubai International Concourse D on 24 February, following what the company described as a successful inaugural year.
Since its opening, over 16.6 million passengers have used the facility, which includes an extensive retail and dining offer.
Concourse D represents the final major piece of infrastructure to be built at Dubai International (DXB) as part of the US$7.8 billion Strategic Plan 2020 programme. The US$1.2 billion facility became the home of 60 international airlines that use DXB’s Terminal 1, with connections to 90 destinations around the world. The concourse increased the airport’s annual capacity from 75 million passengers to 90 million.
“Concourse D is the outcome of a well-designed and meticulously planned project that was built around the evolving needs and expectations of our customers – the hundreds of thousands of passengers that pass through our airport every day,” said HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airports; President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority; Chairman and CEO of Emirates Group.
“After a successful first year of operations, it is very clear that Concourse D has achieved its goal of delighting our passengers and our business partners.”
Dubai Airports said that Concourse D exemplifies its commercial strategy to design and deliver an integrated environment featuring walk-through retail, adjacent food and hospitality concepts, a comfortable central atrium and investment in what it described as the world’s best airport Wi-Fi.
It has also been a showcase for several special events, having hosted numerous musicDXB performances and Hang Out DXB engagements designed to surprise and delight passengers with prize giveaways, special discounts and interactive games.
Concourse D offers 3,600sq m of food & beverage options, including a number of world-renowned brands that were introduced to Dubai and the region for the first time. These include celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck’s The Kitchen and the first Pret a Manger to operate in a Middle Eastern airport.
Concourse D features 20 dining options, including Butlers Chocolate Café, Camden Food Company, YO! Sushi and CNN News Café. Lebanese favourite Sharwarmanji and Taqado Mexican Kitchen have been popular local examples of street food, in addition to Masale by Taste of India. Established traveller favourites such as Giraffe, Starbucks, KFC, Krispy Kreme, McDonald’s, Brioche Doree, The Noodle House, Caviar House & Prunier, Draft House sports bar, and Costa Coffee have been similarly popular, Dubai Airports said.
The retail offer has also been positively received, the airport operator noted. Dubai Duty Free has175 vendor installations in Concourse D spread over an area of 7,000sq m, bringing the retailer’s total shopping space at DXB to 33,000sq m.
The new concourse has also delivered an upgraded lounge experience with nine lounges spread over 6,926msq m, including five airline lounges (British Airways, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Gulf Air, SkyTeam) a new Al Majlis lounge, two Dubai International Hotel lounges and a Marhaba VIP lounge.
[Click on YouTube Icon for a close-up look at Concourse D]
