Logistics hub.

(From Gulf Construction)

Master planning work is under way on a massive international airport complex - which will form the core of the world's first integrated logistics and multi-modal transport platform and will eventually have double the passenger handling capacity of Dubai International Airport (DIA)

The Jebel Ali Airport City - as it is known - will be built 40 km from the DIA airport and will cover an area of 140 sq km. It will include not just a state-of-the-art airport, which is billed to be the largest of its kind in the world, but also several smaller cities, which will cater to the financial, industrial, service and tourism industry needs, according to the Dubai Civil Aviation (DCA)

Preliminary work has been launched on the project's Dh2 billion ($547 million) first phase, which would include two components - Dubai Logistics City (DLC) and a runway for Jebel Ali Airport (JAA)

The City is set to take shape adjacent to the world's third largest free zone - the Jebel Ali Free Zone and the Jebel Ali Port, which is being further extended to handle 15 million TEUs per annum within more than 100 sq km. The master plan for the City was developed by a Dar Al-Handasah/Aeroports de Paris joint venture

Initially, the focus will be on meeting the cargo requirements of the port and the free zone. The Airport City complex will facilitate smooth and efficient cargo flows, in turn boosting industrial development around the complex

"The project is a quantum leap for the logistics business in the Gulf and the greater Middle East and will cater to the region's requirements up to 2050," says Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of DCA, which is currently operating DLC on behalf of the Dubai Government