6th Anniversary of Abu Dhabi International Airport

United Arab Emirates2 January 1988Draft

The main gateway to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The airport's opening on the 2nd of January, 1982 is the culmination of eight years of research, planning and construction, since it was as long as 1974, when His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan AINayhan issued orders to build a significant new airport in Abu Dhabi to cope with the tremendous achievements of the country, and the projected expansion of the capital's air traffic. The personal interest of His Highness the Crown Prince Khalifa Bin Zayed AI-Nahyan, Chairman of the Executive Council, has been and will remain a decisive factor in bringing about this grand project. AIRPORT FACILITIES: With a terminal that can handle the passengers from 22 aircrafts simultaneously and with eleven telescopic gangways from its circular satellite building and with a main cargo terminal which is one of the largest and most modern cargo facility in the Middle East which can handle on its freight apron five Boeing 747 simultaneously. Abu Dhabi International Airport is already equipped to cope with an annual flow of more than three million passengers and eighty five thousand tons of cargo with a planned expansion which would permit the doubling of this capacity.