02nd of August 2006

iPropertyCLUB News

Dubai set to remain top of flight routes

Dubai has come top of the list in a survey of the world’s fastest-growing air routes, beating off New York, Hong Kong and Chicago. According to data from UK-based air transport information company, Ascend, flights from London to Dubai top the list of the world’s ten fastest-growing long-haul air routes. The number of available seats on offer between London and Dubai has trebled over the last decade, according to the data. The number of seats between London and Dubai soared to 1.25 million in the first half of 2006 compared with 405,433 a decade earlier.

"The huge increase of passenger activity between London and Dubai has mirrored Dubai’s growth as a substantial regional power in the areas of tourism, construction, finance and trade over the past decade," said Gehan Talwatte, managing director at Ascend. The growth was mainly driven by the expansion of Dubai-based airline Emirates, which operates 62 services per week on the route. However, more players are taking up flights on the highly popular route, including British airline, Virgin Atlantic which began London-Dubai flights earlier this year. A number of other airlines also serve the route, including British Airways and Royal Brunei, which uses Dubai as a stopping point on its London-Darussalam route.

The success of the London-Dubai route was put down to Dubai’s dynamic and business-oriented economy as well as its rapid growth as a tourist destination.

"Free trade zones, a shift towards a more service-orientated economy, a state-of-the-art international airport, and wide choice of luxury resorts are all making Dubai an increasingly attractive destination for tourists," said Talwatte.

Keith Longstaff, senior vice president of commercial operations for Europe at Emirates Airlines, told 7DAYS the UK was one of Emirates’ most important, and largest markets.

"The UAE’s massive economic boom, and the development of Dubai as a regional hub for commerce has been a magnet for a lot of UK businesses and investors,”he said. “Today, there are many UK citizens living and working in Dubai, and Emirates’ flights cater for visiting friends and relatives, business travel as well as the shipping of tradable goods."

“Having good transport links between the two countries helps to foster tourism and business flows, and our services between Dubai and the UK have contributed to this.” Moreover, Dubai’s place at the top of the flight list looks set to continue, especially with construction of the world’s largest new airport - Dubai World Central (DWC) - underway. At the heart of the DWC development, located in Jebel Ali, is Dubai World Central International Airport, a $33 billion project which will be the world’s largest passenger and cargo hub.

When completed, the new airport will be able to handle up to 120 million passengers each year and a capacity of over 12 million tons of cargo. It will also be capable of handling all of the new generation aircraft being built, including the Airbus A380 superjumbo, which is currently on heat-testing exercises in Al Ain. Grading work on the second phase of DWC is already ahead of schedule, with over 40 per cent of second phase grading at the development now complete.

“Phase-one grading, saw over 43 million cubic metres of earth removed and finished ahead of schedule. We are highly encouraged with the progress regarding the handling of phase-two and look forward to finishing significantly earlier than originally planned,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai’s Department of Civil Aviation, this month.

Source: 7 Days .ae