After years of practicing in Al Ain, Yas Marina Circuit and Dubai Autodrome, Al Jaeedi decided to take another hobby into action
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Majid Al Futtaim, which operates several malls and retail outlets across Dubai, confirmed on Thursday that it has no plans to increase parking fees or tariffs for motorists and shoppers visiting the Mall of Emirates, City Centre Deira, and City Centre Mirdif.
On Wednesday, the Dubai-based conglomerate signed a five-year agreement with Parkin – the largest provider of paid public parking facilities and services in the emirate – to implement barrierless parking for more than 20 million cars that pass through these three malls every year. The contract comes into effect in January 2025.
"Importantly, the fees have not changed. We're not looking at an increase in fees,” said Khalifa Bin Braik, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management.
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"Mall of the Emirates continues to be free for the first four hours. City centre Deira continues to be free for the first three hours and if you stay beyond that and transact in one of our stores, you still have the option of validating your ticket and waving off the fees," Bin Braik told Khaleej Times on Thursday.
Parking at City Centre Mirdif will remain free, he clarified. Some of the VIP spaces at the mall currently have parking barriers, which will be removed once Parkin takes over the system.
“The main objective of the deal with Parkin is to better manage and regulate parking." The charges will remain as they are," Bin Braik said.
"There isn't going to be any increase in fees or tariffs to the consumer. We want to maintain a very transparent and consistent pricing model."
MAF Asset Management has a portfolio of 29 shopping malls operating in five countries, with Mall of the Emirates as its flagship project.
Earlier this year, Majid Al Futtaim and the Roads and Transport Authority tied up for major road network upgrades around the Mall of the Emirates. They are also working together to build a flyover so that motorists who are coming from Abu Dhabi can have direct access to the mall.
“The road upgrade will greatly ease traffic flow as we anticipate approximately a 15- to 20-per-cent increase in vehicle flow into Mall of the Emirates. We have on average, during the weekday, close to 30,000 cars that interact with our parking facilities at the mall. The number goes up on the weekend to 36,000," Bin Braik said.
"The upgrades are important as they're going to save time for people coming from Abu Dhabi into the Mall of the Emirates. Initially, it took them 10 minutes. That's going to be saved greatly,” the chief executive of Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management said during the interview.
With Parkin’s barrierless parking technology, visitors will no longer need to wait at the barriers when entering or exiting mall car parks. Advanced cameras will automatically capture licence plates, tracking each vehicle’s progress and duration of stay.
The implementation of the new system will significantly reduce congestion levels and customer queuing times, particularly during peak hours, ensuring smoother traffic flow and an enhanced parking experience.
As a result, Bin Braik said this barrierless parking would “eliminate the need to stop and get a ticket, and then again eliminate the delays that usually happen on exits".
“On busy periods during weekends and public holidays, consumers would save anywhere from 20 seconds to a few minutes per trip, which would ultimately allow shoppers to spend more time at malls,” he added.
Bin Braik explained that going forward, they can look at other players for their other assets that have the technology and put consumers front and at the centre of everything that Majid Al Futtaim does. “We will give a fair chance to everybody, definitely.”
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