DWC On The GO

Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Center (DWC) is set for major expansion to eventually accommodate up to 240 million passengers. DWC currently handles a few low cost airlines but is the home of Emirates SkyCargo in addition to a few more cargo airlines, creating one of the largest cargo hubs in the region.

An investment of 32 Billion USDs has been set for this task, almost double the projected 18 Billion USDs projected earlier at the start of the decade.. The investment is to support the building of another 4 runways and 2 satellite buildings that will accommodate 120 million passengers annually and 100 A380s parked at any one time (click here for a look at the Master Plan). This phase will be completed in 6 to 8 years in time for Emirates to move out from Dubai International in the mid 2020s leaving Dubai International for the use of Flydubai and other operators. The airport design will allow Dubai Airports to add capacity in 20 million passengers increments to support the expansion plans of Emirates.

Dubai International is expected to handle 120 million passengers by 2020 in time for the 2020 Expo Trade Exhibition. The smooth expansion of Emirates depends on capacity at Dubai International. It is projected that Emirates will carry 93 million passengers by 2020.

Dubai sees the aviation sector as a major contributor to its economy and it is expected to generate 323,000 jobs and contribute 28% of GDP in 2020 compared to 250,000 jobs and 22% of GDP in 2011.

Dubai World Central Taking Off

Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai's mega airport designed to accommodate 160 million passengers has suffered delays in opening. Airlines have been reluctant to move out of Dubai International and relocate to DWC. The aprons are becoming more and more congested as Emirates and Flydubai increase their fleet size and frequencies and international carriers operations increase. 

Currently, DWC is used by a handful of Cargo Carriers. Dubai International has been trying for years to move Business Aviation to DWC without much success until recently when Execujet and Jet Aviation joined DC Aviation at DWC. Currently DWC has one runway and a low cost terminal and no further development will happen before 2018, when the last development in Dubai International is completed. Only then will the other 4 runways and passenger terminals be built to accommodate an Emirates Airline move in 2025 (Dubai World Central, A Vision Delayed).

Last week it was announced that nasair a low cost carrier from KSA and Wizz Air another low cost carrier from Hungary will commence operation on 27 October 2013 to DWC. Wizz Air is a new entrant to the Dubai market, however nasair, already operating from Dubai International will be adding up to another 10 weekly additional frequencies to DWC. Dubai Airports estimates DWC will have around 30 carriers operating into it by 2015, a very ambitious plan.

The final qualification of the terminal will commence now to support the October opening. The terminal was the venue of MEBA 2012 last December 2012. DWC has an access problem at the moment because of its remote location. The RTA will as usual will come up with solutions that will  alleviate the problem.

Finally, DWC will be the new home for the Dubai Air Show starting this year and MEBAA.

Emergency Response and Crisis Management!!

Today, April 1, 2013 in the early morning a suspicious looking device was detected in an X-ray machine at a security station at Detroit Metro's North Terminal. The bomb squad was called and passengers where evacuated to the old Smith Terminal at 5:50 am. The all clear was given at 8:20 am.

There were no scenes of panic and passengers braved cold temperatures as they walked to Smith, some of them in vacation clothes. It was more confusion than panic. Watching the networks in the morning, it was obvious that Detroit Metro's Emergency Response plan did not work too good.

Access to the North Terminal was blocked by Police cruisers and passengers arriving to the terminal were told to go back from where they came (it appears that none were told to go to Smith Terminal to wait). There was no indication that between the time the North Terminal was evacuated and then reopened that a press briefing was conducted or passengers appraised of the situation.

Not exactly the best response to a crisis. Detroit Metro you gotta do better.

Flying Domestic

Other than American Eagle between Detroit and Chicago, I have not done any domestic flying in the continental USA. Last week I flew to San Antonio (SAT) via Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) from Detroit (DTW) with the "New American" (AA).

Detroit is definitely under-served, the airport is rebranding with a new logo and improved  multilingual signage but still using Boingo for its Wi-Fi services. Both DFW and SAT offer free open Wi-Fi which is very convenient when one has to spend a couple of hours. DFW's Sky Link is so convenient and so efficient it took less than five (5) minutes to transfer from Terminals C to A compared to twenty (20) minutes in Paris CDG using an archaic bus system.

Having traveled extensively with AA on International routes, flying domestic was not something I was looking forward to, having heard all the horror stories of flying domestic in general. Well, it has been a long time since I was on a Super 80 (MD-80), I mean decades. AA needs to replace them and soon. Having said that, the aircraft were clean, all departed on time and all had Wi-Fi (gogoinflight)

it was not expensive but for short flights it was not worth it.

Travelling in what AA calls First on the MD-80 was a pleasant surprise at least on the longer sectors (almost three (3) hours) DTW-DFW-DTW, the service was great and the food was good very similar to Business on International flights (OK it is not Emirates or Etihad, but nevertheless good). On the shorter sectors it was a beverage in a real glass and a bag of pretzels, of which they offered seconds. On the whole I was impressed all things considered.

Kudos AA

Sustaining The Growth, MENA's Airports

MENA is the fastest growing region in terms of Passenger growth, around 15% against a global average of 6% and Air Freight growth of 14.7% against a global decline of -1.5%. To sustain this growth most of the airlines of the region are still taking deliveries of aircraft or have just concluded fleet renewals and expansions. However, this is only part of the sustainability picture, the other part being infrastructure.

Airports or lack of them have been the industry's biggest problem, but not in MENA. In March/April 2013 two (2) major airports would have come online and;

1. Amman Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) opened the new terminal on 14 March 2013  

    providing a  nine (9) million passengers annual capacity. The final phase will bring that capacity   

    to twelve (12) million passengers.

2. Doha's Hamad International Airport (HIA) will open Concourse B from 1 April 2013 with ten (10) 

    airlines operating (Air Arabia, Air India Express, Biman Bngladesh Airlines, flydubai, Iran Air, 

    Nepal Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, RAK Airways, Syrian Air and Yemen Airways) thirty 

    two (32) passenger flights daily. Qatar Airways will move to Concourse A by the end of this year.

3. Sharjah International Airport having handled seven and half (7.5) million passengers in 2012 is 

    working on a new master plan for the airport expansion by the end of this year and sign the 

    contract for the expansion.

4. GACA in Saudi Arabia is accelerating the building of a new modern world class airport at the 

    coastal city of Jazan to replace the existing airport.

On the other hand, it was announced that a new route linking Aqaba directly to Istanbul starting in April 2013 to boost tourism to Aqaba, Petra and Wadi Rum areas.

Airports, The New Differentiator

As competition rages between the three GCC carriers Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways the need for airport capacity becomes more evident. The primary requirement is not only to handle the increasing number of passengers but to provide a satisfying travel experience. As the level of on board services becomes ever so close, the differentiation shifts to the airport experience.

On January 13, The Director General of Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announced that the new Doha airport will be renamed Hamad International Airport and will start full operation in the second half of 2013. However, flights not requiring lounge access will start operating from April 1, 2013.
Qatar Airways will move in as soon as Lounges are completed.

Dubai Airports having  just started soft operation of the new Concourse A, a part of Terminal 3 complex  designed solely to handle A380 aircraft, announced yesterday, 14 January a major project to revamp Terminal 1. The project starts in Q1 2013 and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2014. The upgrade includes streamlined baggage screening, new departure check in desks, all the airport retail and food areas and the arrival halls; basically a full radical facelift. The idea is to enhance the travelling experience. The revamped terminal will be linked to Concourse D, currently under construction by an elevated train system.

Abu Dhabi Airport Company awarded the contract for the Midfield Terminal Complex in Abu Dhabi International Airport on June 2012. The complex located between the two runways will be completed by 2017. The Terminal Complex will have a passenger terminal, cargo and duty free facilities capable to handle up to forty  million passengers annually.

The importance of the airport experience is not lost in the region with airports like Dubai and Abu Dhabi already offering free wi-fi providing connectivity to passengers in addition to restaurants, food courts, lounges, a hotel and shopping experiences in their duty free areas.

We are the UK

Travelling, from London Heathrow to Abu Dhabi, out of Terminal 4 is not a stellar travel experience.
T4 has very little to offer passengers. Seating areas are not comfortable, connectivity is not the greatest, restaurant options are limited and shopping is lackluster.

I am all for thorough security checks, but when the line of people waiting for additional inspection of their bags exceeds 5 at any one time I start to wonder about the validity of the extra effort.

I went through security, as usual laptop out in a bin and my iPad stayed in my carry on bag. It seems the person manning the x-ray machine had problems with what he saw, which is good; much better than  the usual slouching sleepy eyed operators. My bag got flagged and was side tracked to the side for special additional security checks.

I had to empty it, well most of it. It got swabbed, multiple repeated swabs of different items and the inside of my bag and then one test. Finally, my bag and its contents went back through the x-ray, the discussion seemed to center around the cases I keep my glasses in.

Finally, I was thanked for my patience and asked to pack my stuff. It is your iPad, she volunteered, it should have been out in the bin. Oh, but nobody requires an iPad in a bin for x-ray not even the States. We are not the States, we are the UK.

Forgive me my mistake, but couldn't we just have taken the iPad out and run it again with the bag through the x-ray like everyone else in the world, instead of keeping me and others waiting for 15 minutes and in some cases even more to find nothing at the end, maybe the guy at the x-ray requires more training.

Dubai World Central, A Vision Delayed

In my previous Blog "Dubai The Brand" I wrote " As for DWC it will slowly be buried until they figure out what to do with it." I was wrong, the waiting is over, Dubai World Central's (DWC) fate is sealed.
EMIRATES AIRLINES will not move to DWC until 2025, seven years after the last upgrade, Concourse 4 of Dubai International. Currently DWC has one runway and a low cost terminal. Several cargo forwarders and an FBO are based there. The airport is connected to Jebel Ali Free Zone with an overpass that allows cargo to move between both areas without having to go through customs.

This shifts any sizable investment until about 2018. DWC Phase 2 (2018-2023) will cover the construction of another four (4) runways and a terminal capable of 160 million passengers annually and a cargo facility capable of 12 million tons annually.

The question now is what happens at DWC between now and 2018. Dubai Airports has to come up with some plans to keep the facility operational and grow the business. My guess would be to attract MROs and Aviation related OEMs to set up facilities there.

To read about Dubai Airport expansion click here

Dubai The Brand

Dubai has been in the news again. A couple days back Dudai Airports announced a massive investment in Dubai International Airport (around 7.8 billion USD) to build Concourse 4 (Concourse 3 is currently under construction), upgrade Terminal 2 and increase cargo capacity by almost 30%. This will bring the airport capacity to 90 million passengers by 2018 from the current 60 million passengers.

Great news! well yes but what about Dubai World Central Airport at Jebel Ali. This was supposed to be a six runways (now 5 runways planned) airport able to handle 180 million passengers annually. The airport has one runway operational and a low cost terminal built. Cargo operation has started but operators prefer the International Airport. Passenger operation has been delayed  till 2012. No airline wants to use the airport it is very far from Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

The other Bad news is the cancellation of Dubai Aerospace Enterprises of all its Airbus orders (45 aircraft. 11 A350-900 and 34 A320, worth 5.8 billion USD) and is in discussion with Boeing about the possibility of canceling their orders 56 aircraft. DAE has never risen to become a strategic business for Dubai. DAE owns Standard Aero.

How do these events affect the Dubai brand?   Positively.

Financially it looks great Dubai just reduced 5.8 Billion USD of liability and is looking to reduce it further when they cancel the Boeing orders.

The expansion of Dubai Airport was associated with increased jobs in the aviation sector and a greater contribution to the GDP.  As for DWC it will slowly be buried until they figure out what to do with it.

Airports and Emotions

This is an old blog, but with most of us travelling I think it is very relevant

Airports for me present mixed emotions.Traveling back to see my family fills me with joy and anticipation, going back after being with my family I am filled with a tinge of saddness.
Going on business there is always that excitement of what to come, how would it go, what kind of adventure awaits me. I enjoy observing people and wondering what is behind the smile or the tears, transiting an airport gives that sense of detachment of being alone randomly observing people, sometimes not more than for a few seconds but always in awe of the human capacity for joy, love, saddness, loneliness and many other emotions that pass by so fast.
And when I am bored I watch how well or bad services are provided to customers by motivated and disinterested staff. I watch the ability of people to totally ignore their customers who are a few feet about them. Airports are learning experiences mostly about me then the multi national multitudes