By Farah Nada  http://www.ahlanlive.com/
Are you traveling from Dubai Airport this summer? Dubai International re-opened its two runways on 21 July after an 80-day closure.
On the day it re-opened, the airport handled an additional 31 per cent air traffic than during its runway closure.
The two runways were closed for maintenance and refurbishment as part of Dubai Airports SP2020 plan to expand the capacity of Dubai International. The southern runway was closed from 1 May to 31 to upgrade runway lighting and build more taxiways to improve capacity. The northern runway, which was approaching the end of its design life, was closed from 31 May to 20 July for resurfacing and other upgrades.
During its usual weekly work hours, each runway is closed for five hours per week for regular maintenance; but the planning of an 80-day full closure had to be done carefully and thoroughly in order to avoid disruptions to passengers and scheduled flights.
The project, estimated to cost about Dhs28.64 billion will allow Dubai International to welcome more than 103 million passengers by 2020, the year in which Dubai will host the World Expo. More info
