"Annual traffic at Dubai airports to reach 98m"

Friday, May 18, 2012

Annual traffic at Dubai airports to reach 98m
By Issac John
UAE - The Khaleej Times


DUBAI — Annual aircraft movements in Dubai are expected to increase to 
560,000 by 2020 when over 98 million passengers and over four million tonnes of 
air freight will pass through the emirate’s airports, a special research 
study revealed.

The total aircraft movements, including local and foreign airlines, general 
aviation, private operators and freighters, in the UAE will surge to 620,000 in 
2012 and 663,000 by 2013, according to the study on the GCC airports 
performance and future growth trends and projections.
 
Titled “Aviation in the GCC States - Flying High Amidst Global Turbulence,” 
the study has been released for the Airport Show-2012, which takes place in 
Dubai from May 22 to 24 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition 
Centre.
 
This remarkable growth would see the aviation sector accounting for 22 per cent 
of Dubai’s total employment and 32 per cent of the emirate’s gross domestic 
product by 2020, the study prepared by Nadd Al Shiba PR and Event Management 
said.
 
According to the study, by 2020, Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad will have the 
capacity to carry nearly 200 million passengers: four times their current 
capacity.
 
“The UAE has a total of 120,000 square kilometers of airspace, with 35 
international air corridors. More than 50 percent restricted to military use. 
To compensate for this shortage and the rapid growth of aircraft movements in 
the UAE airspace, the General Civil Aviation Authority has heavily invested in 
adoption of new technologies to optimise use of available airspace capacity,” 
the study said.
 
Mohamad Bader-Eddin, Show Director at Reed Exhibitions Middle East, organisers 
of the Airport Show, said exhibitors would have free access to this study 
offering analysis and deep insights into the aviation sector of the GCC region.
 
Visitors will also be able to download this study by registering online through 
the show’s website www.theairportshow.com soon.
 
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the 
Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and CEO 
of Emirates airline and Group, it will be held at the Dubai International 
Convention and Exhibition Centre with the confirmed participation of over 205 
exhibitors and attracting thousands of visitors from around the globe. Entry to 
the show is free.
 
The special report is one of the initiatives, alongside the seminars series, to 
enhance the knowledge of the aviation industry professionals about latest 
trends and developments in addition to offering them futuristic insights about 
the market landscape. The report revealed that modern airport infrastructure in 
the region is encouraging Hubbing operations between the East and the West.
 
In the near future, airlines, airports, and air traffic controls in the Middle 
East will need to successfully serve more than four times the 120 million 
passengers served this year. In 2015, Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi airports will 
have a combined annual capacity of 190 million passengers. Current capacity 
utilisation in the GCC (passengers/capacity) stands at over 
115 per cent. 
Airbus predicts that, by 2028, the Middle East fleet will treble in size, while 
the Boeing forecasts that the Middle Eastern airlines would require 2,340 
aircraft by 2029.
 
The International Air Transport Association, or IATA, said the Middle East as a 
whole also appears to be fully recovered from the negative effects on air 
travel of the 2011 Arab Spring.
 
Recently, IATA downgraded its global airline profit forecast for 2012 from $3.5 
billion to $3.0 billion. However, for the Middle East region, IATA sees a 
profit this year of $500 million, which is raised from its previous estimate of 
$300 million and represents a significant improvement compared to earnings of 
just $100 million last year.

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