Dubai completes World Central’s first runway
Above: The first phase of the world's biggest airport construction project is complete with construction of the first runway at Dubai World Central International Airport
The first stage of construction at Dubai World Central International Airport is complete, with delivery of the airport’s first runway. The 4.5km runway was built by the UAE’s Al Naboodah Contracting and is capable of handling the Airbus A-380.
Five more runways are to follow at the airport, which is due to become operational by the end of 2008 and ultimately aims to handle over 120 million passengers each year.
“The completion of the first runway, capable of handling any new-generation aircraft, signals the advent of a new era in Dubai’s aviation and transportation history,” says Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman, Dubai Aviation Corporation - Dubai World Central. “When JXB is fully operational by 2015, we will be geared for any transportation challenge of this century.”
Destined to be the world’s largest airport, Dubai World Central’s first passenger terminal is 40% complete. The terminal is being built by a joint venture between UAE-based Arabtec and Max Bogl from Germany, and will cater to low-cost, regional and charter airlines.
“The first terminal will cater for seven million passengers annually and will serve to take a considerable load off Dubai International Airport (DXB) in terms of flights over the next three to four years,” says Khalifa Al Zaffin, executive chairman, Dubai World Central.
The airport’s two mega terminals and the six concourses, which together will handle more than 120 million passengers per year, are currently being designed by a team of international architects and technical consultants. The final design is due to be announced by next summer.
Japan cuts red tape to boost regional airports
Japan’s Transport Ministry has unveiled plans to open up its regional airports to foreign airlines in an effort to increase the flow of tourists from Asia and enhance local economies.
The move could make it easier for discount Asian carriers to operate in Japan where tight restrictions on routes, along with high costs, have acted as barriers to entry. It forms part of a Japanese government programme to strengthen links with other Asian countries.
The Ministry says that in future any foreign carrier will be able to fly into the 23 Japanese regional airports capable of handling international flights, without first negotiating for landing rights through their governments.
Japan hopes to attract 10 million foreign visitors by 2010, nearly double the figure in 2003.
The government claims that a record 8.1 million foreigners visited the country last year. Japan hopes to encourage tourists to travel beyond its traditional hubs of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya to outlying cities, including Sapporo in the north and Fukuoka in the south, in order to boost regional economies.
Despite increased air routes, visitors may have to wait a little longer to enter the country once on Japanese soil as immigration officials prepare to take the fingerprints and photographs of all incoming foreigners under stringent new security measures later this month (see: Japan prepares new security measures).
Brunei commissions master plan and conceptual design
Brunei has signed an agreement with a group of consultancy firms to draw up a master plan for the development of Brunei International Airport as a leading regional air hub. The work is expected to take around eight months and will focus on three main concepts: Airline Hub, Airport City and Cargo Village.
The consultant team will be led by Petar Perunding. CPG Consultants will provide specialist airport expertise, Leading Edge Aviation Planning Professionals will provide air traffic forecasts, SKM Singapore Consulting will provide airport security expertise and Consulus Cato Partners will provide branding consultancy services.
The study team is responsible for producing a workable programme of phased priority improvements for the airport, and a conceptual design proposal that is technically and financially feasible. The preliminary report will be delivered in January 2008, and the final report in July 2008.
Brunei handled 1.3 million passengers in 2005.
India urged to open Karipur to foreign airlines
Ex-patriot Indians living in the UAE have started a campaign aimed at persuading India’s Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to open up Karipur Airport to foreign international airlines.
Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust claims that international carriers are permitted at Pune, Nagpur and Coimbatore airports, which have fewer international passengers, flights and facilities. International flights to Karipur are, however, limited to Air India Express and Indian Airways.
Trust chairman K V Shamsudheen says the Ministry recently permitted Jet Airways to fly to a few Gulf destinations, but barred it from flying to UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have the largest population of ex-patriot Indians from the Kerala region where Karipur Airport is located.
Karipur was raised to international status in February last year and serves up to 240 international flights per week, handling more than half a million international passengers per year. A 15,000m² international arrival terminal was opened in May this year.
SITA targets Latin America’s regional airports
Airport check-in and baggage management specialist SITA has reached distribution agreements with Ikusi and Sertear, enabling it to target regional airports in eight Latin American countries.
Sertear, a subsidiary of AA 2000, has signed a US$3.3 million deal for SITA AirportConnect Open check-in services for 13 airlines at Uruguay’s Montevideo Airport and will also be focusing sales in Argentina, through its SITA partnership.
Alberto Blaye, AA 2000’s chief information officer, says, “Passenger and airline expectations in regional airports can only be met if the very latest technology is available to ensure a smooth flow of passengers through the airport from check-in to boarding and baggage management. Our partnership with SITA will be critical to help these airports to reduce the total cost of ownership in deploying the very latest IT solutions.”
Ikusi will focus on the deployment of SITA airport systems in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.
Julio Iglesias, Ikusi’s director of airport IT systems, says, “Thanks to our partnership with SITA, small and medium-sized airports in Spanish-speaking countries will benefit from this portfolio expansion. There is a real need to increase the efficiency of the check-in and baggage handling processes in regional airports, which are increasing their passenger throughput tremendously.”
Umar Khan, vice-president of SITA’s Channel Partner Programme, says: “Average growth last year exceeded 10% in Latin America, with Brazil, Mexico and Colombia leading that growth. A good proportion of this growth has come through small and medium-sized airports, which are often the airports of choice for low-cost carriers.”
Guardian signs ITDS to distribute PinPoint
Security specialist Guardian Technologies International has signed a distribution and integration deal for its PinPoint explosive detection equipment with International Threat Detection Systems (ITDS).Guardian hopes to capitalise on ITDS’s extensive international distribution network, including the Madrid-based Prosegur Group, which has established relationships and offices in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Romania in Europe; and Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile in Latin America.
Guardian claims that ITDS’s agreement with Prosegur will significantly reduce the time and effort normally required to access proper government authorities for the distribution of the PinPoint product line.
“The ITDS agreement is a landmark event for Guardian as we continue to move forward on all previously announced initiatives to commercialise our PinPoint product,” says Bill Donovan, president and chief operating officer of Guardian Technologies International. “Through the efforts of ITDS and Prosegur, PinPoint has been positioned for near-term deployment at airports in Spain and Portugal, leading to future government facility deployment.”
Málaga’s new terminal due by spring 2009
Málaga Airport’s new US$1.6 billion (Euro 1.1 billion) terminal should be ready by spring 2009, says Magdalena Álvarez, Spain’s minister for development.
She says 80% of construction is complete and that the Airports Authority AENA has already demolished 65% of the 140 houses that were compulsory purchased to make way for the development.
The new 250,000m² terminal will have 20 boarding gates and 86 check-in desks. It will double the airport’s passenger capacity to 9,000 per hour.
Ben-Gurion passes one million in a month
More than one million passengers travelled through Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport in October. The number of international travellers was up 18.4% compared with October 2006, to 983,491 passengers, while the number of domestic travellers rose 15.5% to 35,725. So far this year, more than 8,750,000 passengers have used the airport, an increase of 14% on the first 10 months of 2006.
Security screeners only speed on laptop checks
A new study by researchers from the State University of New York Buffalo has found that security screeners speed up their inspections of passengers’ laptop computers when security queues build up at airports. However, they don’t speed up any other security screening process.
The study at an un-named medium-size US airport found that passengers are screened just as thoroughly when they wait in a long queue as when they wait in a short one.
The researchers, from the university’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, divided passengers’ carry-on items into four categories: trays containing shoes, keys, cash, and personal effects, such as cell phones; carry-on baggage, such as small roll-on cases; small purses and small cases, such as camera cases; and laptop computers.
“If you’re going to have a speed-up anywhere, it’s probably safest to have it with laptops, because that’s a more difficult item to hide something in,” says Rajan Batta, one of the researchers. “We didn’t see a speed-up with carry-on bags, so that’s reassuring. These findings will also be reassuring to the Transportation Security Administration, because the speed-up we detected will not have a drastic effect on security.”
Batta believes the findings will have an important impact on queuing theory, which was first developed more than four decades ago. Until now, researchers assumed that as a general rule, the people servicing a queue will not speed up or slow down whatever the length of the queue. The study suggests, however, that security staff will speed up certain tasks when a queue lengthens if they perceive minimal threat from doing so.
The lesson for airport security officials is that there may be situations when it would be advantageous for service quality for the staff to be fully aware of the length of the queue.
Deccan consortium bids for Indian airport projects
Bangalore-based Deccan Aviation has formed a consortium with the Nitin Raheja Group, IDFC and the GVK Group to bid for airport projects across the country. Each of the partners will hold 25% stake in the consortium. The consortium has already bid for airport projects at Gulbarga, Bijapur and Shimoga in India’s Karnataka province.
