Tag Archives: dubai
Dubai airport passenger numbers up 19% in April
April was the fifth consecutive month with more than five million passengers passing through the Dubai airport. Dubai International recorded nine straight months of double-digit growth as passenger numbers in April jumped 18.7 per cent to 5.41 million over the same period last year, operator Dubai Airports said in a statement on Monday. It added that April was the fifth consecutive month with more than five million passengers passing through the world’s second busiest airport for international passenger traffic. India led the April growth at the Dubai airport with a total of 672,557 passengers, followed by the UK (419,053) and Saudi Arabia (405,695), Doha (207,146), London (201,587) and Jeddah (151,517), as per the report. The year to date traffic, meanwhile, increased by 16.3 per cent to 21.9 million passengers compared to 18.8 million recorded in the first four months of 2012, Dubai Airports said, adding that the largest increase in total passenger numbers was recorded on the Western European routes (+207,120 passengers). And the Middle Eastern routes that were affected by political instability until the beginning of 2013 recorded moderate growth in April (+23,365). Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said in a statement that growth should continue at a similar pace in the next quarter and beyond. “Accordingly we are continually increasing capacity at Dubai International, the most recent example of which was the opening of the first phase of expansion at Terminal 2,” he said. Aircraft movements at the airport, meanwhile, increased by 6.9 per cent to 30,469 compared to 28,503 recorded in April 2012, as per the estimates, while year to date aircraft movements totalled 121,599, an increase of 6.2 per cent compared to 114,517 during the same period in 2012. On the cargo front, April saw freight volumes increase by 7.3 per cent to 199,985 tons compared to 186,385 tons in April 2012. And the year to date cargo totalled 784,832 tons, up 11.5 per cent to 703,826 tons during the first four months last year. Continue reading
Dh770m contracts for Capital’s waste management
Dh770m contracts for Capital’s waste management Silvia Radan (silvia@khaleejtimes.com) / 27 May 2013 Two contracts worth Dh770 million have been awarded by the Centre of Waste Management — Abu Dhabi (CWM) to cleaning service providers. Apart from cleaning and removing domestic waste, the new five-year contracts also stipulate technical procedures for reducing waste at source, maximising recycling practices and decreasing waste transferred to landfills. Acting General Manager at the Centre of Waste Management — Abu Dhabi Dr Salem Al Kaabi said: “Awarding new contracts is in line with our plans to provide unmatched services to the community in Abu Dhabi. It also compliments our strategic objectives to maintain a sustainable environment through leveraging the practices of reuse and recycle. “Both contracts will start from January 15 next year. For the time being, the company in charge of cleaning services is West Coast,” Ibrahim Taher, solid waste specialist at CWM, told Khaleej Times. West Coast – Saubermacher Environmental Services will continue to keep part of the Abu Dhabi emirate tidy, as it is one of the two companies to be rewarded the new contracts. “As part of the contract, Delma Island, which falls in Lot 4, will witness the deployment of enhanced technologies, given its status as a coveted natural reserve of Abu Dhabi,” said Mubarak Al Amri, director of Waste Collection Projects at CWM. The second contract was awarded to Alphamed – Lobbe – IFEU, which will take over the cleaning services of Abu Dhabi’s Lot 3. This covers the areas of Abu Dhabi island to Dubai, Al Ain and Western Region (Musaffah) borders. As per contracts, both companies are not only responsible for the collection and transfer of waste, but also for the cleaning of streets, coasts and beaches. “For the time being, we are doing the recyclable waste separation, after the waste has been collected. From next year, though, this will change. It will be the cleaning company’s responsibility to separate the waste at source,” explained Taher. Green recyclable bins are already provided by CWM in most residential areas, but they are rarely used properly by residents. CWM hopes to change this through awareness leaflets explaining what rubbish should be placed in which bin. The companies have also been tasked with the collection and management of construction and demolition waste. Under the agreement, the companies have to provide the necessary bins, as well as the vehicles and equipment, of which they will have full ownership. In line with the new contracts, a call centre and a database management system will be implemented for the purpose of customer satisfaction measurement. Continue reading
Finance for UAE varsities discussed
Finance for UAE varsities discussed Muaz Shabandri (muaz@khaleejtimes.com) / 27 May 2013 An education conference hosted in Dubai brought together leading academia and philanthropic organisations in a bid to discuss new ways to develop financial resources for universities in the UAE. Discussing the need for responsible social contribution in strengthening the higher education sector, the conference was the first-of-its-kind hosted by the University Leadership Council (ULC). ULC is a committee of the UAE-based higher education institutions that seek to facilitate the creation of an intensive knowledge-based economy in the UAE. “We intend to build necessary human resources by combining the best of commerce and industry with academia. The alumni are eminently qualified and employers are more than receptive to have such well-trained individuals close at hand,” said Dr. Nada Mourtada-Sabbah, Vice-Chancellor for Development and Alumni Affairs at the American University of Sharjah, at the event. Her comments came in a welcome address to local and international delegates. The conference was inaugurated by UN Under-Secretary-General and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Philippe Douste-Blazy. Addressing policy-makers and heads of institutions, the former minister said: “We have to ask our mind how we can create innovative financing — new sources of money. We can’t continue to have 1.5 billion people without drinking water, sanitation, health, food or education.” He highlighted some of the best practices implemented in Europe and suggested innovative ideas to fight global challenges. Dr. Hisham El-Sherif, Chairman of IT Investments and Professor Emeritus, American University of Cairo in Egypt delivered a keynote address and echoed similar views by calling for the development of a global knowledge fund. “The Arab world today is close to 380 million people. In 2050, this figure will double to around 800 million people. We will need 400 cities of 1 million people each or 1,600 cities with place for a quarter million people in each city,” said Dr Hisham. He advocated an urgent need to set up a knowledge fund supported by industries in the Middle East and help build a central scholarship scheme. Earlier during the conference, Dr. Thomas Hochstettler, Provost and Acting Chancellor of American University of Sharjah said: “Philanthropy in education is of mutual benefit where industry and government support universities in funding their educational projects and at the same time provide a platform to develop new talent for building the regional knowledge economy. Regional universities are establishing endowments, scholarships, chairs and other opportunities for philanthropists to advance their corporate social responsibility initiatives.” The University Leadership Council is an executive committee comprising American University of Sharjah, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Zayed University, UAE University, Khalifa University of Science, Technology, and Research. ULC members also include Abu Dhabi University and the education division of Dubai Healthcare City. Continue reading
