Tag Archives: dubai

Leaders at Dubai Airports have confirmed that talks are ongoing with a number of airlines with a view to bringing more services to the new Dubai World Central (DWC) Airport.Chief executive officer at the organisation Paul Griffiths told Arabian Business that a “stampede” of carriers are expected to move into the facility.DWC only opened in 2010 and has been used solely to transport cargo thus far, although the airport has now been redeveloped to enable it to accommodate passengers.The aviation complex will take some of the strain off the city's main airport – Dubai International – which seems to get busier every year. Indeed, 66 million people are predicted to fly into the facility in 2013.Mr Griffiths thinks that as soon as one or two airlines have committed to providing services from DWC, others will follow.”We're talking to a great number of airlines but airlines really don't like being the first mover and when you see an airline go in and be successful, then you'll find that we're overtaken by a complete stampede of airlines wanting to be there,” he was quoted as saying.”I'm hopeful that over the next few months we will be announcing some more carriers will be operating from DWC.”The airport's cargo operations have been very successful to date, so much so that March 2013 was a record month for freight volumes.Mr Griffiths believes this will encourage airlines to use the airport for passenger services and he hopes tens of thousands of people will pass through DWC in its first year of operation.Meanwhile, work to extend Dubai International Airport is ongoing and plans are in place to raise the annual capacity to 90 million people in the coming years.Dubai Airports recently revealed details of an 80-day project that will see the facility's runways given a new lease of life.The organisation said the work – which will begin in May 2014 – is vital if the ambitious expansion targets are to be achieved. Continue reading →

Emirates has announced that Brisbane will be the third Australian destination to be served by its doubledecker A380 planes.The airline already operates such services to Sydney and Melbourne and this latest announcement will ensure even more people can travel between Dubai and Australia.It will open up an extra 135 seats per flight – the equivalent of 1,890 a week – and the service will also go on to Auckland in New Zealand.Salem Obaidalla, Emirates' senior vice president of commercial operations in the Far East and Australasia, said the firm is the first to bring this revolutionary aircraft to the Queensland-based airport.He added that the decision to enhance services on this particular route was made on the back of rising demand for travel between Australia/New Zealand and the UAE.”The Dubai-Brisbane-Auckland route is a popular choice among business and leisure travellers alike and the new Emirates A380 service will be instrumental in helping Emirates meet its passenger demand as well as deliver considerable economic benefits through inbound seats and travel connections,” he remarked.Mr Obaidalla said Australia is an important market for Emirates and the country is in the top three countries on the carrier's international network.The new A380 offering will launch in October 2013 and by then the company will be providing six daily A380 services between Dubai and Australia.Emirates only started to offer A380 flights in 2008, but since then it has carried 14 million passengers on 35,000 trips around the world.The firm recently secured a deal with prominent Australian airline Qantas, which will further help to connect the two countries.Earlier this week (May 13th), the pair announced that New Zealand's minister for transport had approved the agreement. This is important, as Emirates is keen to increase its presence in New Zealand.President of Emirates Tim Clark labelled the organisation's relationship with Qantas as a “game-changing partnership” that brings together two of the world's leading carriers. Continue reading →