Essay on the Project Management Life Cycle of the Al Maktoum Airport Mega Project

Through the tour I experience in Dubai, most tourists recognise it as Middle Eastern version of Las Vegas, but to me, the only nickname I can give the place is the middle east capital of excess, an emirate state where opulence and money reign supreme. Dubais unpreventable high skyscrapers moving into the clouds are compared only in size by its sprawling, vast infrastructure and the resident bulging bank balances. With the comparison of the picture that was taken in 1960, the city of emirate has shown a remarkable transformation in a very short period. Dubai is almost unrecognizable with the question rising; how comes an area that has a former life as a fishing settlement, now turn from a desert to metropolis was it a miracle? But the cornerstone of Dubais economy is not oil but logistics, getting different individuals and materials in the city that early before was just overheated expanse of desert to manage their logistics system Dubai decided to design and launch one of the lucrative and first class airport to bring a solution to the logistic problems. One of the best projects, which are the pillar of the transport system, is the Maktoum International Airport, the major project directed to bring out an international airport. With the project covering a total area of fourteen thousand hectares, the project itself is a tourist attraction and its lighting Dubai as a city of development. Considering the number of operation taking place in the airport; its opening was on 27th June 2010 with one cargo flight and one runway with a handful of airlines operating passenger services in Al Maktoum International Airport.

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Interestingly, the miracle Dubai and the Maktoum International has motivated me to confirm whether the project has fulfilled the project management life cycle. Logically, for a project to be entirely complete it must go through five lifecycles which include; project initiation where decision-making team identifies if the project can be realistically completed(Gray & Larson, 2014); this has been totally fulfilled by the Al Maktoum International airport since the project has been offering flight and cargo services. The second stage involves the definition and planning where the team should now prioritise the project calculates the schedule and organises the budget to identify the available resources needed. Notably, the third stage in the project lifecycle involves project launch and execution that majorly entails tasks resources distributed with the teams informed of responsibilities (Griffin, 2010). Al Maktoum is one of the best times since it brings up significant project related information. Considering the second and the third stage of Al Maktoum Airport, the first phase of Maktoum is taking off with over one hundred billion investment taking place within the coming six to eight years to give room for more than one thirty million passengers per year. With the airport directed to be the largest component of Dubai world central, if completed as planned, the airport will have the capacity to host more than one hundred and sixty million per year. Al Maktoum International is seen to have reached the fourth stage of the cycle which is the project performance control where managers have to compare the project status and the progress that is being made with the project. For example, the project was planned to have six runways, but the number had to be reduced to five with the larger passenger complex in the middle which was not in the original plan (Al Maktoum International Phase 1, 2014). I am utterly fascinated and now realize that the whole project is not a miracle but an organized procedure that has fulfilled the entire project life cycle.

Talking about success, then one should fly to Dubai and land at Al Maktoum to define what success is. Considering the progress and the fourth stage of the project lifecycle, it is not wrong to say that the project is up to date successful. Al Maktoum is one of the mega- projects that require serious commitment and serious financial investment to accomplish the final goal. With the first flight into the airport taking place in June 2010 when the Emirate Boeing 777F landed at the airport, I feel that the whole project up to date has been successful.

Conclusion

Dubai is one of the best places in the world that is rich and fulfilled by great development stories and mega project such as the Al Maktoum airport. It can be used as a case study to light the world through infrastructure.

Reference

Al Maktoum International Phase 1. (2014, September 7). Retrieved January 12, 2017, from http://daep.gov.ae/press-release/al-maktoum-international-phase-1/

Gray, C. F., & Larson, E. W. (2014). Project Management: The Managerial Process. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Griffin, J. A. (2010). Residential Construction Management: Managing According to the Project Lifecycle. J. Ross Publishing.