The contract, worth over 7,000,000 euros, included the supply of around 18,600 seats and 6,800 tables of the Meeting model in leather, designed by the company’s Centro Studi (www. matteograssi.it). The Meeting chairs were specified for their aesthetic characteristics, high quality and skilled handcrafted finish that creates a sense of extreme luxury and comfort. The company delivered on time, respecting a tight deadline, at the beginning of March 2008. Dubai International Airport opened to the public on 14 October 2008. The new Terminal 3 has been designed by Aéroports International de Paris (ADP) and architects from the Dar Al-Handasah practice. The gleaming structures shaped like aeroplane wings cover a built area of 515,000 metres squared. With 252 check-in desks, over 8,000 metres squared given over to shops, relaxation and entertainment facilities and a car-park for 1,870 vehicles, the new Terminal is an invaluable resource for the country. Situated 20 metres below runway level, the most extensive level has been fitted with 157 lifts, 97 escalators and 82 moving walkways. Terminal 3 has a system of underground luggage handling, and with 90 kilometres of conveyor belts moving 15,000 items per hour, it is the biggest in the world. Dubai airport, which until now has seen a transit of 22 million passengers per year, by 2012 expects to reach 60 million. Forty kilometres away, however, work is underway on the construction of the new international airport Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum, which will be even bigger and able to accommodate 120 million passengers per year and handle 12 million tonnes of goods.
Matteograssi have fitted out public spaces and offices for important companies around the world, as well as major international airports including Fiumicino (Rome), Frankfurt, Malpensa (Milan), Athens, Beijing, Dubai, Kiev, Roissy CDG in Paris, Jakarta and Singapore. MCT