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Old 27th April 2008, 11:34 AM
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Montague S Montague S is offline
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Default Dubai overtakes Changi

...in terms of passenger numbers!

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IT'S official - Dubai Airport has edged ahead of Singapore Changi Airport, in terms of passenger throughput, for the first time.

Dubai achieved this breakthrough in the first quarter of 2008 and leads a region attracting increasing Australian investment and global aviation industry attention.

In the three months ended March 31, Dubai handled 9.34 million passengers, up 15.1 per cent year on year, fractionally more than Changi's 9.32 million, up 6.7 per cent.

With the help of an early Easter, Changi handled about 10,000 more passengers in March than Dubai, but the Middle East hub's stronger performance in the first two months of the year was enough to take the mantle from Changi in the quarter.

Dubai looks set to accelerate ahead of Changi for the full year, handling just under 40 million passengers, compared with just over 39 million at Changi this year (assuming first-quarter growth rates continue).

Dubai Airports chairman Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum is confident this will be the case, stating the first-quarter achievements would "set the tempo for the remainder of the year".

Dubai still has some ground to catch up in the cargo sector, handling 399,718 tonnes in the first quarter against Changi's 466,000 tonnes. But it is growing more than twice as quickly, up 10 per cent year on year in the first quarter, against Changi's 4 per cent increase.

Dubai's ascendancy has much to do with Emirates' expansion, but is much more broad-based than most industry commentators believe.

Changi Airport is served by 80 airlines flying to 188 destinations, with Singapore Airlines accounting for 47 per cent of total weekly seats (week commencing April 21). If SIA's low-cost subsidiary, Tiger Airways, and regional unit SilkAir are added in, the flag carrier's home share is 55.4 per cent.

Dubai, meanwhile, is served by 124 airlines flying to 207 destinations, with Emirates accounting for just under 55 per cent of total weekly seats.

Dubai overtaking Singapore represents a highly significant milestone in global aviation. The Middle East hub now has only Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris and London ahead of it in the world international passenger throughput stakes.

More Australian firms are being attracted to the Gulf region hub, a point underscored by Australian consul general in Dubai, Kym Hewett, who said the city was considered a launching pad for doing business in the region. Mr Hewett added that the Dubai Airport Free Zone offered an "excellent investment and business environment for Australian companies wishing to locate and operate from this commercially vigorous region". Sixteen Australian companies have already established operations at the Free Zone.

The United Arab Emirates is Australia's second-largest trading partner in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia, with two-way trade in 2006 exceeding $3.9 billion.

The UAE imports large quantities of Australian vehicles, agricultural commodities and metal, while Australian purchases from the UAE are dominated by petroleum and liquefied natural gas (although the emirate of Dubai is not a significant oil producer).

Overall, the UAE aviation market heads the steep growth path of much of the region. The rapidity of expansion of the key airlines in the Middle East - Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways - is unprecedented and, despite the doubters, most probably sustainable.

Faced with an almost inevitable economic slowdown in the US and Europe (and probably Asia) this year, these growth Middle East airlines could well confound the opposition, as long as protectionist policies do not re-emerge. They have large aircraft orders and cash balances to allow them to follow through.

And they have intelligently co-ordinated infrastructure to support them. More than $US50billion ($52.6 billion) is being spent on Middle East airport infrastructure, developing throughput capacity within the next four years, allowing for an additional 320 million passengers a year.

In addition to this flurry of infrastructure investment, a handful of Gulf airlines have order books that strike fear among some of the oldest and strongest names in the business - more than $US50 billion in aircraft orders last year alone.

Most of these are for twin-aisle, long-haul equipment. Vitally, this region is ideally placed geographically to derive the greatest value from a new generation of extra-long-range aircraft, making one-stop travel possible between any two points on earth via this region - and this region alone.

As liberalisation sweeps through intra-Middle East aviation, there will be more to come, from established flag carriers too, along with more short-haul expansion.

On long-haul routes, the substantial aircraft delivery schedules of the UAE airlines in particular make it likely that if a global economic slowdown does eventuate, those airlines will be well positioned, not only to survive it, but to exploit it. So 2008 and 2009 could be very big years for Middle East aviation.

For more aviation updates, visit www.middleeastaviation.aero

Derek Sadubin is chief operating officer of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-30538,00.html
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