New surface for Dubai’s busy airport

Dubai’s busy international airport is now benefiting from new runway and taxiway areas that will help boost capacity. The upgrades are much needed as the airport is one of the world’s busiest in terms of international flights. Data from the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) says that in 2013, air passenger traffic worldwide topped 3.1 billion, and demand is expected to continue to grow. The combination of more flights and growing numbers of larger and more sophisticated aircraft like the A
January 6, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Dubai’s international airport now has new runway surfaces with bitumen having been supplied by Shell Bitumen

Dubai’s busy international airport is now benefiting from new runway and taxiway areas that will help boost capacity. The upgrades are much needed as the airport is one of the world’s busiest in terms of international flights.

Data from the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) says that in 2013, air passenger traffic worldwide topped 3.1 billion, and demand is expected to continue to grow.

The combination of more flights and growing numbers of larger and more sophisticated aircraft like the Airbus A380 means that the world’s busiest international airports are having to redevelop their runways and taxiways. The Airbus A380 weighs close to 400tonnes and landings of this huge aircraft can place enormous stresses on runway structures.

As a result, special techniques and materials are required to build the runways to ensure that they can cope with the immense engineering loads exerted.

When Dubai International Airport required its two runways to be upgraded and resurfaced in May 2014, 763 Shell Bitumen was approached by contractor Al Naboodah Construction Group to provide special bitumen solutions for this logistically challenging project. The company was able to provide special bitumen technologies to meet the demands of the project. In the past, Shell Bitumen has provide materials for use on other major airports, including Heathrow in the UK, Charles de Gaulle in France, Schiphol in the Netherlands, HKIA in Hong Kong, Changi in Singapore, KLIA in Malaysia, Frankfurt in Germany and Suvarnabhumi in Thailand.

Asphalt milling, paving & compaction Materials

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Lima's massive $2 billion airport project
    March 4, 2025
    Peru’s capital, Lima, is to benefit from a massive new international airport, which will be one of the largest in Latin America – Mike Woof writes
    Read More
  • Hong Kong tops updated version of world cities’ mobility index
    December 17, 2013
    Honk Kong has topped an updated Arthur D. Little Urban Mobility Index assessing world cities’ mobility maturity and performance. The 84-city Index, contained in a new version of the ‘Future of Urban Mobility’ study produced by Arthur D. Little management consultants and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), ranks Stockholm and Amsterdam second and third respectively, with Copenhagen and Vienna rounding off the top five. The Index reveals that most cities are still badly equipped to cop
    Read More
  • Bonjour bio-based binders
    April 5, 2023
    How can Shell speed the whole road construction sector on its way to decarbonisation? Professor John Read and Richard Taylor have a few ideas.
    Read More
  • Lafarge starts Vancouver YVR runway paving
    May 13, 2025
    Lafarge Canada, part of Holcim, is the paving subcontractor for Vancouver Airport’s North Runway Modernisation Programme in British Columbia.
    Read More

Highlighted Content