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Construction has started on a new Lm66 million) headquarters for the Emirates Group, with completion scheduled for the summer of 2006. The new Group’s central office will be located on Airport Road, opposite the present Emirates Engineering Centre, and connected to Dubai International Airport via a tunnel. Its construction will be entirely self-financed by Emirates.
His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates said: “Our new home has been designed to be both engaging and no-nonsense. It will be a showcase building for the Emirates creativity that pulsates throughout the entire Group. It will break new ground as a corporate central office and will help us demonstrate our dedication to our customers and employees alike."
The main design objective of the new Emirates central office was to offer an even more productive environment to staff and be efficient to visitors.
At 200 metres from end to end, the curved facade of the new building will be more than twice as long as the current headquarters and 100 metres across at its thickest point – again more than twice the width of the existing central office. It will have two basement levels, ground floor and nine upper floors, providing 700,000 square feet of net office space.
Besides the group's management team, the building will house an estimated 3,500-strong staff. They will enjoy a workplace environment designed to alleviate stress and encourage creative thinking.
Laid out and equipped to offer the highest professional office standards to staff, the building is also intended to extend to customers and visitors the trademark welcome-to-Emirates feeling characteristic of the airline’s lounges and aircraft. Parking space for 3,000 vehicles is planned, as well as two bus points and taxi rows.
The Emirates Group’s present central office near the Clock Tower in Deira was built in 1976 and has been undergoing its first expansion. A multi-level car park was added as an extension to the building five years ago.
The Group’s rapid growth soon made its original home insufficient for the increasing staffing needs. The new headquarters will result in greater space management efficiencies as well as considerable annual savings in property utilisation costs.
Currently Emirates Airline operates three direct flights each week from Dubai to Malta: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on a A330-200 aircraft. |
