Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates will charge for car parking once the metro is launched in September, a senior executive at the mall’s owner confirmed in remarks published on Tuesday, after weeks of playing down the likelihood of imposing charges.
“Yes, we have pay parking coming in,” Shahram Shamsaee, senior vice president of retail for Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, was quoted as saying by UAE daily the National.
Majid Al Futtaim has previously avoided categorically stating charges will be enforced, only saying it is “looking into a number of ways we can manage our parking spaces” – despite evidence of barriers being erected at the entrances to the mall’s parking garage and parking metres springing up inside.
Shamsaee said would not say how much parking will cost, how much shoppers will have to spend to qualify for free parking or how long shoppers will be able to park free, the National reported.
Burjuman Shopping Centre already charges shoppers for parking – people can park all day for 20 dirhams ($5.40) or for free if they spend over 100 dirhams.
With the launch of the metro on Sept. 9 malls across the city that the metro stops at are looking at parking charges in order to stop commuters using their car parks.
