The UAE is building several modern sewerage systems and has constructed civic facilities such as schools, hospitals and other vital utilities to enhance community cohesiveness.
Local municipalities in the UAE are responsible for managing, disposing and treatment of wastewater. To match with the steep rise in sewage generation as a direct effect of increase in the UAE's population, the government is investing in upgrading and extending sewer systems to ensure a sustainable sewage disposal and treatment system. Some of these projects are mentioned below by emirate.
Abu Dhabi
In Abu Dhabi, Sustainable Water Solutions Holding Company - (SWS Holding) is in charge of collecting and treating waste-water discharged from all residential and commercial customers. In 2009, SWS launched an AED 5.7 billion (USD 1.6 billion) Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP), which includes building 41 km of deep sewer tunnels.
In 2014, an ambitious environmental plan was revealed to treat and re-use all of the emirate's wastewater to irrigate farms and parks within four years.
Dubai
Dubai is planning to get a new deep tunnel sewerage system costing AED 12.5 billion in the next five years, to replace more than 121 sewerage pumping stations. The new deep tunnel system makes use of gravity for the collection of sewage.
In addition, a project to expand the Jebel Ali sewerage plant has been approved and will cost AED 1.3 billion. When it is completed, it will serve 1.35 million people and will bring the plant's capacity to 675,000 cubic metres daily, which is double its current capacity.
Sharjah
Sharjah Municipality opened a new underground sewerage treatment plant in April 2012 to cater for residential areas, in addition to the AED 227 million sewerage treatment plant at Al Sajaa area. The main sewerage treatment plant at the fifth industrial area will undergo an expansion to increase its capacity from 30, 000 cubic metres to 50,000 cubic metres daily.
Ajman
Ajman had its first sewerage treatment network in 2009, which was built by Ajman Sewage Company, one of the first sewage projects' PPPs in the region.
Ras Al Khaimah
In Ras Al Khaimah, Public Services Department handles management of wastewater. Following urbanisation, local governments are investing in upgrading and extensions of sewer systems.
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The UAE has constructed civic facilities such as schools, hospitals and other vital utilities to enhance community cohesiveness.
The UAE Cabinet has allocated more than 50 per cent of the federal budget of 2016, amounting to AED 48.5 billion, to health, education and social services collectively.
According to Federal Competitiveness And Statistics Centre (FCSC) in 2014, there were 107 hospitals including 33 government hospitals, with around 11,000 beds in all.
Educational facilities increased since the establishment of the Federation in 1971. The total number of schools in the UAE as of 2013 was around 1174 schools, which consist of 685 public and 489 private schools.
The UAE's civil airports are:
Abu Dhabi International Airport (IATA code: AUH)
Abu Dhabi International Airport is located in Khalifa City A, Abu Dhabi. Some of the airport’s facilities include:
Airport services include:
Al Bateen Executive Airport
Al Bateen Executive Airport is situated on the Abu Dhabi island. It is a world-class executive facility, providing services to chartered flights. The airport offers the following facilities:
Delma Airport
Delma Airport is located on the Delma island in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. It essentially serves the 6,000 residents of this 45-square-kilometre island by connecting them to the city of Abu Dhabi with a 45-minute flight.
Sir Bani Yas Airport
Operating since 2008, Sir Bani Yas Airport caters mainly to the tourists visiting the island. It is located 250km southwest of Abu Dhabi coast in the western region of Al Dhafrah.
Al Ain International Airport (IATA code: AAN)
Al Ain International Airport is located in the Al Ain city of Abu Dhabi emirate. It is located 18km northwest of Al Ain city. It is operating since 1994 and serves nine destinations. The airport was originally built to serve 1,000 passengers per peak hour. It has a 4,000-metre runway and a parallel 4,000-metre taxiway that can double as a runway as needed.
Dubai International Airport (IATA code: DXB)
Dubai International Airport opened in 1960. Since then, passengers have grown by an average of 15 per cent per year. The airport serves more than 66 million people a year, flying them to over 260 destinations across 6 continents on more than 140 scheduled airlines. The airport has 3 terminals.
Terminal 3 is dedicated for use by Emirates Airline. It includes Concourse A, the world’s first and largest purpose-built facility for A380.
UAEWallet
At this terminal, citizens and residents of the UAE can use the UAEWallet app to pass through the immigration counters. The UAEWallet app incorporates personal data from Emirates ID, passport and eGate card and facilitates quick passage. Travellers must register with the UAEWallet app before travelling. At the immigration counter, travellers must scan the machine-readable barcodes generated by the UAEWallet app to pass through the 'smart' gates. The UAEWallet app is available on iTunes.
Terminal 2 is home to Dubai’s budget airline FlyDubai. It is located to the north of Terminal 1 and caters to scheduled, charter and special interest flights during special occasions. About 50 airlines operate out of this terminal. The capacity of arriving and departing passengers is 1200 peak hours respectively and 5 million annually.
Terminal 1 serves more than 60 international carriers. Connected to Concourse D through an airport train, Terminal 1 offers capacity to accommodate more than 20 million passengers annually.
Al Maktoum Airport (IATA code: DWC)
Al Maktoum Airport, also know as Dubai World Central (DWC)is located at the south of Dubai city. It is being designed to become the world's biggest airport with a capacity to handle more than 160 million passengers per year. It will also serve as a multi-modal logistics hub for 12 million tonnes of freight.
Check services at Dubai's airports.
Sharjah International Airport (IATA code: SHJ)
Sharjah International Airport is home to Air Arabia. It is located 13km southeast of Sharjah. Find out the facilities and services at the airport.
Ras Al Khaimah International Airport (IATA code: RKT)
Air Arabia operates a few flights from Ras Al Khaimah International Airport; mainly to Bangladesh, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Sultanate of Oman. Find out the facilities and services at the airport.
Fujairah International Airport (IATA code: FJR)
Fujairah International Airport is the UAE's only airport on the east coast. It became operational on 29 October 1987. See the terminal map and passenger services.
For information about specific facilities, refer to the websites of the airports in the UAE or contact the airports concerned.
eGates and 'smart' gates
Passengers exiting or coming to the UAE can use the eGates or the ‘smart’ gates. eGates and ‘smart’ gates are self-service immigration counters. Passengers need to scan their biometric passports, Emirates IDs, eGate cards or UAE Wallet card to pass through the immigration gates.
UAE citizens and residents can use eGates and 'smart' gates.
GCC national and passport holders from countries eligible for UAE visa on arrival can use eGates.
Those travelling with people below 15 years are required to use the manned counters. Read about the smart gates or watch the video on how to use the smart gates.
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The UAE's seaports are international and regional hubs and an essential factor in driving economic growth and facilitating economic diversification.
The country's sea transportation sector is developing steadily in terms of ports, operating ships, maintaining and constructing dry docks in accordance with the international standards on maritime safety and protection of the marine environment.
The UAE has several seaports. According to the World Shipping Council, two of the world's top 50 container ports are in the UAE, with Dubai featuring among the top ten.
Overall, 61 per cent of cargo destined for GCC states arrives via the UAE's seaports. The UAE has 12 commercial trading ports, other than oil ports. It contains 310 berths, with cargo tonnage of 80 million tonnes.
Major seaports in the UAE include:
It serves over 25 shipping lines, offers direct links to 70 international destinations, and boasts an intermodal transport network facilitating efficient transportation and logistics across sea, road and air. The port will also be the first in the UAE to be linked to the new Etihad Rail network, which is currently under construction. It will also serve as a main gateway for Kizad, which is set to become the largest industrial city in the region covering an area of nearly 420 square kilometres of prime industrial land.
Abu Dhabi Airport Expansion-Midfield Terminal
The 700,000-square metre terminal building is one of the key projects in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, to develop a world-class air transportation hub. The Midfield Terminal Building (MTB) represents one of the largest investments by the UAE to deliver the needed infrastructure, in line with Abu Dhabi Plan 2030, that will cater to the growth of the aviation sector in the region and confirms Abu Dhabi's strong position in the global air transportation network.
The AED 10.8 billion MTB is expected to be completed in 2017. It is part of a wider ten-year (2009-2019), AED 37 to AED 40 billion airport expansion plan. It will initially handle 27 to 30 million passengers per year once operational and cater to Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and the carriers it holds stakes in.
The MTB design focuses on passenger experience, highest quality and service standards, including the International Air Transport Association's 'A' level of service which is the highest levels of space allocation for passenger processing areas. The design targets to achieve 'Two Pearl Rating', in line with the 'Estidama' approach towards sustainable design.
Operational highlights include:
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Al Maktoum International Airport expansion
Al Maktoum International Airport is set for its next phase of growth to expand its passenger terminal building. The building, which was opened in 2013 with a size of 66,107 square metres, will expand to 145,926 square metres.
The project includes a new immigration hall with 55 control counters within the arrivals building, as well as a new baggage handling system.
In the departure building, the public hall, commercial areas, the check-in hall and offices would all be extended. It would have 100 traditional check-in counters, as well as 7 economy and 4 business class self-service check-in counters, 26 passport control checkpoints (including six e-gate counters) and 24 boarding lounges.
A series of further extensions are planned under later phases that are designed to raise its maximum capacity to 26.5 million passengers a year.
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