Emirates aims to stay put for a decade as new Dubai hub falters

Emirates aims to stay at its Dubai International Airport base for another decade as the sheikdom reviews the future of a partly built super-hub costing $36b. Dubai International, which attracted 90m passengers last year, could conceivably eke out annual capacity of as many as 115m travelers, Emirates President Tim Clark said Wednesday. Transferring other airlines to the newer Al Maktoum airport would give Emirates and sister carrier FlyDubai room to expand at their existing home, he said. Both Dubai International and Al Maktoum, which can now handle 25-30m people a year, are state-owned. So are Emirates and FlyDubai, which gives Clark more say about airport location than a typical airline chief. The aviation veteran, who has made Emirates the dominant player on inter-continental routes, said a review of Al Maktoum -- designed to serve as many as 250m passengers -- must assess if it will be suited to a time when everything from check-in to baggage processing and security will be done remotely or with little physical infrastructure. He said Dubai can’t have a “Jurassic” hub. <br/>