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DIA voted 'Best in ME'

DUBAI — Readers of the high profile travel magazine - Business Traveller Germany have voted Dubai International Airport the Best in the Middle East and Africa in a recent survey for the year 2005.

On behalf of Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman of Emirates Group, Mr Jamal Al Hai, Chairman of DCA Executive Board and Director Strategy and Management Excellence, received the award in Frankfurt.

Dubai International Airport has won the Business Traveller Germany award for the third time in the airport category. In fact, the awards have evolved from being only a duty free award to encompassing the entire airport operation. Earlier Dubai Duty Free received the Business Traveller Germany award for seven consecutive times for the best duty free worldwide. The awards now recognises that airports are a much larger entity than ever before.

The airport award category introduced in 2003, is given on the basis of services provided such as baggage delivery, check in, front line staff services, facilities and duty free shopping, which has contributed to a great extend towards achieving the award. Survey forms were included in Business Traveller Germany and sent to every subscriber in the region. More than 3,000 readers turned in the survey forms.

Shaikh Ahmed commented: "We are proud of the recognition that we have achieved. Dubai International Airport has long been recognised as a premier airport in the Middle East and now it is being recognised as one of the best in the world as well. It has been our mission to be recognised as such and this award is a reaffirmation of our efforts to provide the highest standard of service and facility to our customers. It is our aim to provide maximum customer satisfaction and these awards are given by the customers making it all the more valuable."

With international recognition being the goal of every organisation, contests have assumed keener dimensions and higher competitive standards in the recent years. With readers voting for Dubai International Airport as the "Best Airport Middle East" and "Second Best Airport in the World", the verdict clearly illustrates how the airport has successfully delivered the products and services demanded by frequent business travellers. Dubai International Airport has received 36 international awards to date.

Keeping in mind the mission statement of the Department of Civil Aviation to be the best in the world, it is a priority to maintain the high standards of service that is now customary at Dubai International Airport. Visualising the customer demands in the coming years, the Department of Civil Aviation commenced the 2nd phase of Dubai International Airport expansion last year.

The $4.1 billion expansion programme includes the construction of Terminal 3, concourse 2 and concourse 3, all of which will be exclusive to Emirates airlines, a Mega Cargo Terminal and a major upgrade of Terminal 2. The entire project is slated to be completed by 2006. With the completion of the 2nd phase Dubai International Airport will have the capacity to handle 70 million passengers a year. In the year 2005, 24.7 million passengers passed through Dubai while over 28 million are expected this year. According to forecasts, 60 million passengers are expected by the year 2010.