epa08002933 Planes sit on the tarmac during the first day of the Dubai Airshow 2019 at Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 November 2019. The airshow will run from 17 November to 21 November 2019. EPA/ALI HAIDER
epa08002933 Planes sit on the tarmac during the first day of the Dubai Airshow 2019 at Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 November 2019. The airshow will run from 17 November to 21 November 2019. EPA/ALI HAIDER
epa08002933 Planes sit on the tarmac during the first day of the Dubai Airshow 2019 at Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 November 2019. The airshow will run from 17 November to 21 November 2019. EPA/ALI HAIDER
epa08002933 Planes sit on the tarmac during the first day of the Dubai Airshow 2019 at Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 November 2019. The airshow will ru

Dubai to hold talks in December on airports' expansion strategy, top official says


Deena Kamel
  • English
  • Arabic

Operator Dubai Airports is planning to hold a meeting in December to discuss the way forward on the expansion of the Dubai International Airport (DXB) and the emirate's second hub Al Maktoum International Airport (Dubai World Central), its chief executive said.

The emirate is looking to boost capacity at Dubai International, the world's busiest hub, to 120 million passengers annually in 2023, up from 90 million currently, by "investing in technology to improve traffic flow, which will provide enough growth for the sector through to early-to-mid 2030s", Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports chief executive, told The National. This will give "breathing space" to consider the ultimate design and development of Dubai World Central's phase two expansion to 120 million annual passengers.

"We've got a meeting next month to consider all the options and hopefully before the end of the year we may have some announcements to confirm the strategy. Its an integrated programme between the two," he said. "With DWC phase two we can take a pause for a while because the DXB strategy will fill in all the short-term capacity needs and the timescale for DWC phase two needs to be determined in the context of those decisions."

Dubai is the hub for Emirates, the world's biggest long-haul airline, which has used its position at a crossroads between Europe and Asia to develop an unparalleled network of intercontinental connections. Emirates, the biggest customer of the airport operator, carried 29.6 million passengers during the first half of the fiscal year and its passenger seat factor, which measures how many seats an airline can fill, rose to 81.1 per cent, from 78.8 per cent last year.

The integrated programme for the two airports "will give us breathing space to think about the ultimate design and development of DWC phase two and takes pressure off  having to invest for growth at DWC phase two because obviously investing in DXB is a far more effective strategy," he said.

The decision to end the A380 programme by Airbus, of which Emirates was a primary customer, does not have a direct infrastructure impact on DWC because the master plan is "aircraft-agnostic" to accommodate new trends in technology, Mr Griffiths said.

Dubai International expects its passenger tally this year to be approximately on par with last year’s traffic, clipped by weaker global air travel demand and operational challenges, but will remain the world’s busiest international hub.

A 45-day runway refurbishment in April that reduced capacity, the global grounding of Boeing's 737 Max since March and collapse of India's Jet Airways during the summer have impacted growth at the hub, Mr Griffiths said.

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Dubai Airshow 2019

epa08002933 Planes sit on the tarmac during the first day of the Dubai Airshow 2019 at Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 November 2019. The airshow will run from 17 November to 21 November 2019. EPA/ALI HAIDER
epa08002933 Planes sit on the tarmac during the first day of the Dubai Airshow 2019 at Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 November 2019. The airshow will run from 17 November to 21 November 2019. EPA/ALI HAIDER

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"Those three events have had a depressive impact… it's clear the global air transport demand has softened significantly in last 12 to 18 months and we've seen the impact of that," he said.

Mr Griffithsexpects Dubai International to serve as many customers by the end of this year as it did in 2018.

“We had quite a positive October. Once November and December are through, we’re going to keep our fingers crossed that we will end up at least at parity to where we were in 2018,” he said. “It won’t be a blockbuster year for us because of those factors.”

While the rate of growth is slower than the double-digit expansion the company saw over the past decade, Dubai International will hold on to its title of the world’s largest hub for international travel, according to its operator.

“We’re still unassailably the largest international hub in world, and intend to be and will continue to be,” he said. There is no chance of any airport surpassing our position.”

Over the next few years the industry outlook forecasts growth of around 1.5 per cent to 1.7 per cent and expansion at Dubai International is likely be in line with that trend, Mr Griffiths said.

The Dubai Airports chief is bullish on prospects of future growth fuelled by Chinese passengers, despite a slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy, with a burgeoning middle-class eager to travel.

"If look at future trends in china, we believe 1.3 billion additional annual passenger journeys will be undertaken by customers starting and finishing in South-East Asia in the next decade or so, that will be very significant and we plan to increase our market share of that," Mr Griffiths said.

China’s economy is projected to slow down to 5.8 per cent this year from 6.2 per cent in 2018 in the wake of a trade war with the US, according to the International Monetary Fund, but Dubai International is seeing a surge in traffic from the country.

“We’re getting a lot more Chinese traffic than before and growth on those routes is still very positive and we expect that to continue,” he said. “The fact is that middle class in china, as they start to increase in wealth, will mean more travel and we’re well-placed to take advantage [of that].”

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE

Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:

• Buy second hand stuff

 They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.

• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres

 Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.

• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.

Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.

• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home

Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.

Jewel of the Expo 2020

252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome

13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas

550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome

724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses

Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa

Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site

The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants

Al Wasl means connection in Arabic

World’s largest 360-degree projection surface

'Joker'

Directed by: Todd Phillips

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix

Rating: Five out of five stars

Three tips from La Perle's performers

1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.

2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.

3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.

JAPAN SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa

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UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

Types of fraud

Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

* Nada El Sawy

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