His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Dubai Airports, hosted a special event organised by the Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) on Wednesday to personally thank the organisations that played a key role in the completion and opening of Dubai International’s Concourse A. Pictured above is Sheikh Ahmed along with Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman of Dubai Aviation Corporation (first on the left), Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports CEO, and Suzanne Al Anani, CEO of DAEP. Concourse A, the first phase of which opened on January 2nd 2013, is the world’s first purpose-built facility for the Airbus A380. Part of the Emirates-dedicated Terminal 3 complex at Dubai International, Concourse A has 20 contact gates all of which can accommodate the superjumbo. The construction of the 528,000m2  facility required  159,572,880 man-hours and as much as 930,000 m3 of concrete. Speaking on the occasion Sheikh Ahmed told the attendees he considers them “partners in delivering this great achievement”. He said that with the opening of the world’s largest A380 facility and Dubai International’s surpassing Hong Kong to become the world’s third busiest hub for international passengers, Heathrow airport in London could soon see Dubai take over its number one spot for international passenger traffic.