By IANS
Dubai : The world’s largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre will be established in Dubai, it was announced at the 10th Dubai Airshow which started Sunday.
The centre will be part of the five-billion dirham ($1.36 billion) Dubai World Central Aviation City, being developed as part of Dubai World Central (DWC), the 140 sq km urban aviation multi-phased development at Jebel Ali near here, according to a DWC press release.
Chairman of Dubai City of Aviation Corporation Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum unveiled the final masterplan of the project, which has been designed as a one-stop centre for all aviation-related operations.
Maktoum said that the Aviation City’s strategic location near the new Al Maktoum International Airport — which is under construction and which is stated to become the world’s largest airport when completed — would give potential investors an advantage to reach regional and international clients alike.
“The MRO centre will be the world’s biggest in land area earmarked for development, and will be able to handle all types of aircraft from light jets to superjumbos such as the A-380”, Maktoum stated.
DWC executive chairman Khalifa Al Zaffin said that the facility would host all aviation manufacturing, MRO, aviation support services, design and consultancy, research and development, aviation training, product and parts, light manufacturing units and high-technology industries.
“When complete, DWC Aviation City will lead the region in aviation services, excellent quality infrastructure and hi-tech research. The project is set to create an innovative and unique business concept in the region by inviting all aviation related businesses to be based within one location,” he stated.
Apart from the MRO centre, the Aviation City will also feature a heliport zone, an educational and academic zone, an industrial zone and a hub for aircraft component and parts supply.
“These multiple zones will allow several operations to be simultaneously functional at any given time”, said Abdullah Al Qurashi, CEO, DWC Aviation City.
“The academic zone will host several aviation colleges and training centres which will offer aerospace and academic studies while the industrial zone will offer an integrated infrastructure and localised environmental control in one location available on ground,” he said.
Qurashi added that individual developers would be given an opportunity to build their own hangars and facilities within a free zone area on long-term lease.