Air Transport

Emirates could relocate its entire operation from Dubai International airport to the city's new development at Jebel Ali in the middle of the next decade, if proposals to accelerate the huge infrastructure project are agreed.

The initial phase of Dubai World Central (dubbed "JXB") at Jebel Ali is due to open next year and the airport will eventually incorporate six parallel runways and additional terminals to give it an annual capacity of 120 million passengers by 2030.

Emirates Airline president Tim Clark says that he hopes discussions will start in "a couple of months" about accelerating the airport's development. "The existing airport will be reaching maximum capacity by 2013, so by 2016, we should be moving to Jebel Ali," he says.