Also named as best airport in Middle East
Reinforcing its position as a leading player in the global aviation arena, the Bahrain International Airport was awarded the prestigious OAG-Routes airport marketing award for the entire Middle East and Commonwealth of Independent States region.
The award was presented at the 14th World Route Development forum held in Kaulalumpur in recognition of the Civil Aviation Affairs department's initiatives to market new routes and promote the airport to various carriers and passengers, both locally and regionally.
Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa described it as an important achievement by the Bahrain International Airport, complementing the series of global awards it received this year.
The award was presented to Shaikh Ali during a meeting held yesterday with Civil Aviation Affairs Undersecretary Captain Abdulrahman Al Gaoud, Assistant Undersecretary for Aviation Services, Ahmed Nemat Ali, Director of Bahrain International Airport Mohammed Thamer Al Kaabi and Acting Director of Marketing and Promotion, Mohammed Mehdi.
"The winning of this award is a recognition of the efforts and policies of the Civil Aviation Affairs department," said Al Gaoud.
Bahrain International Airport was also named the second best airport in the Middle East in an international survey of 8.2 million passengers worldwide this year. The London-based aviation research firm, Skytrax, conducted the survey between August 2007 and May 2008, among passengers from 97 countries.
Skytrax Annual Airport Survey is the largest international customer appraisal assessing quality standards. The criteria included streamlined passengers' arrival and departure procedures, the ease of catching connecting flights and the cleanliness of restrooms. The efficiency of security checks, duty free shopping facilities and immigration procedures were also assessment criteria.
Earlier this year, the airport was also adjudged second best in the world for marketing and promotion. Passenger traffic at the Bahrain International Airport rose by 27 per cent in the first half of the year compared with the corresponding period last year and it was expected to reach the nine million mark by the yearend with the annual growth in traffic estimated at 15 to 16 per cent, making it one of the busiest airports in the region. It carried 6.8 million passengers in 2007. The airport receives more than 200 aircraft every week. Forty-two airlines, including charter flights and cargo carriers, operate through Bahrain and the number is set to reach 47 by the yearend, Civil Aviation officials said. Currently, more than 70 international destinations are served out of Bahrain. Bahrain International Airport's massive BD126 million expansion plan is scheduled to start this year and completed in 2010, allowing the airport to handle up to 15 million passengers a year besides the booming cargo traffic.
In addition to being the fastest growing cargo hub in the region with a number of international carriers such as British Airway Cargo, Air France Cargo and Lufthansa Cargo together with established operators such as MartinAir, the airport is both the Middle East Regional Distribution Centre and a designated super-hub for DHL's worldwide network whose services not only include significant operations to support the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq but also a major regional hub for distribution by air and surface including transcauseway trucking services to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Over three million tonnes of cargo crosses the causeway annually.
madhav.kara@bahraintribune.net
By K.V.S. Madhav
© Bahrain Tribune 2008
