AUH Midfield Terminal Opening
Apr 23, 2020, 11:24 pm
#61
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Programs: EY Plat, Accor Plat
Posts: 426
Even under normal operations, Midfield would have been an eerie ghost town most of the day. You really have to see inside it to understand the sheer scale of it - there are 49 contact gates, which is even more than DOH, for a much smaller operation compared to QR.
Under the reduced scale operations for the foreseeable, T3 alone will probably be enough. They're not going to operate that huge terminal for a handful of flights per day. It just makes no sense.
Under the reduced scale operations for the foreseeable, T3 alone will probably be enough. They're not going to operate that huge terminal for a handful of flights per day. It just makes no sense.
Apr 24, 2020, 6:56 am
#62
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Executive Club - Silver (OWS)
Posts: 766
Remember it was scaled for the "future" EY before it started going down the pan.
Apr 24, 2020, 12:48 pm
#63
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,265
My guess is that traffic movement might be back to something resembling normal by the end of the year at the earliest, assuming no significant relapse in any of the major economies. Until then, Midfield will be just too big for the amount of traffic required, even if it was otherwise ready for opening.
EY was already headed towards becoming a shadow of its former ambitions, and corona will accelerate that significantly.
Apr 25, 2020, 3:53 am
#64
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: UK
Programs: Etihad Gold, Qatar Gold, flying Blue, Falcon, Lufthansa, Eva
Posts: 1,428
[QUOTE=stargold;32321833]The numbers for that scenario might have worked prior to Corona. Singapore, a hub airport that is actually fully utilised and busy, is shutting two of its four terminals for the foreseeable future (18 months in case of T2, which is one of SQ's two primary terminals) - this situation is not going to improve noticeably in a hurry. Where will the demand for the new LCC come from? The Subcontinent is going to be suffering from Corona for a significantly longer time due to the lack of infrastructure.
One thing you can not blame Etihad for is the effect of the covid19 outbreak. Remember that the experience of many new airports is that you need room to grow in the future - a classic example is Bangkok where they had to reopen the old airport so sure it may be underutilised at the outset and that can mean a far superior passenger experience assuming that things like security are properly organised
One thing you can not blame Etihad for is the effect of the covid19 outbreak. Remember that the experience of many new airports is that you need room to grow in the future - a classic example is Bangkok where they had to reopen the old airport so sure it may be underutilised at the outset and that can mean a far superior passenger experience assuming that things like security are properly organised
Apr 25, 2020, 7:02 am
#65
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,265
One thing you can not blame Etihad for is the effect of the covid19 outbreak. Remember that the experience of many new airports is that you need room to grow in the future - a classic example is Bangkok where they had to reopen the old airport so sure it may be underutilised at the outset and that can mean a far superior passenger experience assuming that things like security are properly organised
The debate is whether the current situation will make ADAC want to open the Midfield sooner or later, and my last post was addressed to people speculating that this situation will somehow convince them to rush to open it ahead of schedule. All of the factors in the near to mid term point to delaying the opening, rather than opening it sooner.
Apr 29, 2020, 6:00 pm
#66
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: Etihad Guest Platinum; Accor Platinum; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,356
More and more aircraft are designed for point to point rather than hub operations. Many flights now leave India direct to the US where it wasnt previously possible
One wonders then in the future where we want to limit mingling, how much we want to transit through a hub of potentially sick people
Air Arabia got its license this week to operate, it would be ultimate irony that it replaces terminal 2 rather than terminal 3 !!!
One wonders then in the future where we want to limit mingling, how much we want to transit through a hub of potentially sick people
Air Arabia got its license this week to operate, it would be ultimate irony that it replaces terminal 2 rather than terminal 3 !!!
Apr 30, 2020, 3:00 am
#67
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: UK
Programs: Etihad Gold, Qatar Gold, flying Blue, Falcon, Lufthansa, Eva
Posts: 1,428
One thing to add to this debate on the timing of the opening is the fact that there might be advantages to opening the terminal at a time of low usage cast your minds back to the opening of T5 at heathrow or Hong Kong. Any problems will be on a lesser scale and there will be time to get things working seamlessly
BBC NEWS | UK | What went wrong at Heathrow's T5?
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/09/b...g-airport.html
https://www.airport-technology.com/f...minal-opening/
BBC NEWS | UK | What went wrong at Heathrow's T5?
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/09/b...g-airport.html
https://www.airport-technology.com/f...minal-opening/
May 1, 2020, 10:27 am
#68
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Abu Dhabi
Programs: IHG Platinum Ambassador, Etihad Silver
Posts: 132
Nope, no way they will open it this year. That sort of logic is not widely applied in this part of the world anyway. They have been desperate to find an excuse not to open it and now they have one.
It's go two massive (and growing) piles of excavated sand right outside the main entrance anyway
It's go two massive (and growing) piles of excavated sand right outside the main entrance anyway
May 27, 2020, 8:21 pm
#69
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Thailand
Programs: Marriott LT Titanium; IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 1,150
The smart move is to open it now; perhaps only using a single loaded pier.
That way once capacity starts building back up there has been an extended ORAT and everyone knows how to operate efficiently in the new Terminal
That way once capacity starts building back up there has been an extended ORAT and everyone knows how to operate efficiently in the new Terminal
Jun 10, 2020, 4:06 am
#71
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: UK
Programs: Etihad Gold, Qatar Gold, flying Blue, Falcon, Lufthansa, Eva
Posts: 1,428
Jun 12, 2020, 3:44 am
#74
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: UK
Programs: Etihad Gold, Qatar Gold, flying Blue, Falcon, Lufthansa, Eva
Posts: 1,428
Do you mean that they will open it during what one might expect to be one of the busiest periods? Now that would be breathtakingly stupid unless it was being built by the Singaporeans who would probably pull it off
