Dubai Airports has conducted the first operational trial involving members of the public, to test the readiness of the newly-built Concourse A, the world’s first purpose-built A380 facility at Dubai International’s Terminal 3.

The major trial follows a comprehensive series of preliminary exercises that were carried out at the facility in recent weeks with the participation of employees of the airport and its partners, a Dubai Airports official said.

It was aimed at determining the readiness of staff, systems and processes at the new facility by simulating a typical airport operation, the official said.

Some 1,100 volunteers including men, women, children, senior citizens and individuals with special needs, played the role of passengers arriving at, departing from and transiting through Concourse A. That exercise helped test way-finding signage and the flow of passenger traffic within the new building and between it and Terminal 3 via the airport train. Many of the new retail and food and beverage outlets also formed part of the trial.

Concourse A is part of the Terminal 3 complex which will increase Dubai International’s annual passenger capacity from 60 million to 75 million when it opens next year.