Aug 31 2011 |
more articles from
|
Dubai airport will be world’s second busiest by November
Wednesday, Aug 31, 2011Gulf News
Dubai: Dubai International Airport will become the second busiest international airport in the world by November.
According to a new study by the Centre of Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa), Dubai International — currently the world’s fourth busiest international airport — will occupy the number two slot from November 2011 in terms of passenger numbers, with London Heathrow at the top, going by the aviation body’s forward (winter) schedule.
Dubai airport’s jump would leapfrog Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Capa said in its report, adding that Dubai had recently overtaken Frankfurt International Airport.
Dubai International handled a record 4.7 million passengers in July.
According to Dubai Airports , the largest growth occurred on routes from the GCC, Indian subcontinent, Western Europe and North America.
Record traffic
Furthermore, the projected jump in November brings Dubai International closer to its goal of achieving the top slot potentially by 2015, outstripping London Heathrow as the busiest international airport in the world.
By 2020 Dubai Airports expects the airport to handle around 98 million passengers per annum.
Commenting on the Capa analysis, Lorne Riley, Head of Corporate Communications at Dubai Airports , told Gulf News that Dubai International is witnessing record traffic numbers.
“By the end of the year we project over 51 million passengers will pass through Dubai International,” he said.
He added that a growing number of internationally respected organisations are “bullish” about the airport’s prospects, “and for a good reason.”
He added that while Capa is basing its projection on monthly data responding to seasonal fluctuations in capacity, Dubai Airports looks at the past 12 months of passenger traffic data.
“That said, it is clear both organisations agree the trend is going only one way and that is up,” Riley said.
Corroborating this, the Capa analysis of seat capacity reveals that the upcoming winter 2011-12 schedule will catapult Dubai into second spot, ahead of Hong Kong International Airport and Paris CDG.
“Capa’s Airport Rankings tool shows that airlines at Dubai Airport will offer more than 1.3 million seats per week in November 2011.
“Dubai will hold this advantage through December and into the New Year,” the aviation body stated in its report.
It added that the capacity hike comes about as a result of the “seasonal upswing in capacity” offered by airlines based in the Gulf, besides increases in traffic connecting Europe and the Asia Pacific via Dubai.
Future growth
Analysing Dubai airport’s future growth, Capa’s report said: “The question is whether Dubai can maintain its grip on second spot once the northern summer schedule commences in 2012.
“Seasonal traffic in Europe soars, as European carriers re-jig their schedules, while traffic in the Gulf slows, particularly through the second quarter.”
It added that if recent rates of growth continue, Dubai could maintain its position [from November 2011] as the world’s second busiest international airport through 2012 and could overtake Heathrow before 2015 as the London airport has “little spare capacity for expansion”, with just two runways already operating at near peak capacity.
Hong Kong’s airport, meanwhile, faces runway and airspace capacity constraints, according to the report.
“Of its [Dubai airport’s] larger rivals, only Paris CDG is relatively unconstrained in terms of capacity, but has been consistently outstripped in terms of growth by DIA,” Capa said in the report.
By Shweta Jain, Senior Reporter
© Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
Zawya Comment Policy
-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Copyright © 2012 Zawya Ltd. All rights reserved. |
provided by www.zawya.com |
Post Your Comment