London-based Virgin Atlantic will launch a second frequency to Dubai following the first delivery of its long awaited Dreamliner aircraft, the carrier’s CCO said Thursday

The carrier, which is 51 percent owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, said it had no plans to expand its only Middle East route outside of Dubai.

“We think absolutely that Dubai in the fullness of time will benefit from a second frequency,” Julie Southern told Arabian Business.

“The critical thing there will be getting the right size of aircraft and the 787s…will be key for us in terms of opening up some of those additional frequencies,” she said.

Virgin Atlantic has 20 of the delayed Boeing 787s on order, the first of which will start being delivered in 2014.

The carrier, the second biggest long-haul airline at London’s Heathrow Airport, said Dubai remained an important destination but ruled out further expansion in the region.

“If you look at the London end of the route versus the Dubai end of the route, we originate about 25 percent of our revenue of out of Dubai and 75 percent from the UK and that’s not true on all of the routes. This end of the market remains really important to us,” said Southern.

“This [Dubai] is such a central hub for the Gulf region that I think it’s mostly likely that if we do anything, it will be an additional frequency to serve this market rather than go to somewhere relatively close by and start a brand new route,” she said.

Virgin Atlantic expects to grow its business by seven percent this year and by 5-8 percent next year, said Southern.

“You’ll see that being a mix of brand new places and additional services on existing destinations,” she said.

The airline this month managed to avert the first strike in its 27-year history after it managed to agree a deal with a union representing its pilots.

The UAE has signed an open skies deal with Albania, making the south-east European country the latest in a growing list of destinations accessible from the Gulf state.

The deal, agreed by the UAE’s aviation authority, named Etihad, Emirates Airline and RAK Airways as national carriers, alongside low-cost airlines flyDubai and Air Arabia.

The agreement marks the latest effort by UAE airlines to expand their operations in the lucrative European market.

A deal signed by UAE and French aviation authorities last month gave flagship airlines Etihad, Emirates and Air Arabia the right to add a combined 22 weekly flights to the European country.

Dubai-based Emirates is also understood to be lobbying for fresh landing rights at Berlin’s new airport, which is set to open in 2012.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week forecast that passenger traffic into the UAE will hit 82.3 million over the next three years, driven by a Middle East-wide rise in air travellers of 9.4 percent.

Global air travellers will rise to 3.3 billion by 2014, up 32 percent on the 2.5 billion carried in 2009, fuelled by strong growth from China, the agency said in its latest forecast.

The Middle East is expected be the fastest growing region, with the UAE, Kuwait and Jordan ranking among the ten quickest growing countries for international traffic.

With a growth rate of 10.2 percent, the UAE ranks only behind China at 10.8 percent.

The Gulf has become a hub for airline innovation as traditional power players like Europe and the US continue to slump.

Flagship carriers Etihad, Emirates and Qatar have been expanding their routes further into Asia, Africa and South America, while regional low-cost carriers Air Arabia and flyDubai continue to provide local competition to short-haul destinations.

Gucci, the luxury-goods company owned by PPR SA, said it won an injunction preventing unauthorised use of the Elisabetta Gucci name, thwarting plans by the great-granddaughter of the founder to open a chain of hotels under her moniker.

NO GUCCI: Elisabetta Gucci plans to open an 87-suite hotel in Dubai by the end of the year. (Getty Images)

The use of Elisabetta Gucci’s name “has caused customer confusion and has been harmful to Gucci’s business,” the company said in an e-mail on Thursday that was confirmed by a spokeswoman. The ruling by a Florence court “will hopefully act as a significant deterrent for those who intend to unlawfully license or commercially exploit the Gucci trademarks.”

Calls and e-mails to Elisabetta Gucci’s Dubai office were not immediately answered. Lorens Ziller, managing partner of her eponymous company, did not immediately return e-mails seeking comment.

Elisabetta Gucci plans to open an 87-suite hotel in Dubai by the end of the year, Ziller said last month. Branded as EG Hotels and Resorts by Elisabetta Gucci, the property would showcase furniture designed by her and built by Formitalia Srl, Ziller said.

Ziller and Formitalia must “immediately cease any use of the mark at issue as well as of the domain name ‘Elisabetta Gucci’ for any business or advertising purpose,” Gucci said. The same applies to Mirabili Srl and Formitalia Group SpA, it said. The court imposed a penalty for any violation and awarded Gucci legal fees, the company said.

The Dubai hotel will be the first of 40 to open globally in the next 15 years, Ziller said last month. Elisabetta Gucci’s partner is Baitek International Investment, owned by Saudi Arabian investor Abdulla Al Sayegh. (Bloomberg)

The first flight to land at the new Al Maktoum Airport is a big step in Dubai’s aim to become the world’s “pre-eminent aviation centre”, a top official said on Monday.

AIRPORT PLANS: Sheikh Ahmed has said that Al Maktoum Airport has passed with flying colours its final tests.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Dubai Airports, said operational tests had been passed with flying colours.

“This is an important milestone, not only for the airport’s certification process, but as another step towards achieving Dubai’s vision to become the pre-eminent centre for aviation worldwide,” he added in comments published by news agency WAM.

“It’s also a testament to the cooperation and dedication of all of the organisations and stakeholders involved, who have done an impressive job of building and preparing Phase 1 of the facility for launch in a very short time frame.”
Phase one of the airport will feature one A380 capable runway, 64 remote stands, one cargo terminal with annual capacity for 250,000 tonnes of cargo and a passenger terminal building designed to accommodate five million passengers per year.

When completed, Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International will be the largest airport in the world with five runways, four terminal buildings and capacity for 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo.

The facility opens initially for cargo carriers on June 27, with passenger operations currently slated to start up at the end of March 2011.

During the first live operation on Sunday, air traffic control procedures were tested alongside airfield and taxi signage and routes, radio communication and a range of procedures related to ground and cargo handling, fuelling, catering, customs, immigration and security.

“The test was an unmitigated success not only for Emirates SkyCargo, but most importantly for our customer Swift Freight,” said Ram Menen, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president Cargo.

The General Civil Aviation Authority, the overseeing regulator, will conduct a final review on June 24 to complete airport licensing.

Although RSA Logistics celebrated the success of its first anniversary at Dubai Logistics City early this year, the company is focused on the future rather than the past, explains marketing director Kirit Mehta.

It’s been over a year since RSA Logistics became the first company to commence operations at Dubai Logistics City. What circumstances led to that achievement?

The management team at RSA Logistics was looking for new opportunities to meet the growing needs of the market. Being one of the first customers to be issued a licence in 2007, it was deemed a bold step. However, we were confident about proceeding and construction work was started in February 2008, taking around a year to complete. The first three containers arrived at our warehouse facility on 2nd April 2009.

The logistics industry suffered a number of challenges in the Middle East last year. Did this situation impact your operations?

Even though our operations began in the middle of a global downturn, RSA Logistics was able to finalise a three-year partnership with APL Logistics and another three-year contract to provide Diversey with warehousing and distribution services. In addition, we inked a strategic relationship with UTi that focuses on contract logistics opportunities and started our dedicated freight forwarding and shipping division.

Do you believe these developments have vindicated the decision to base your operations at Dubai Logistics City?

Everyone at Dubai Logistics City has always been very supportive about our decision to establish a presence here. Of course, due to the recession, some of their commitments were delayed, which is understandable. However, there were some other issues, such as the customs and documentation process, which have since been sorted out. When you look back at our achievements in the first year, we are fairly content with progress. It would be difficult to ascertain whether a different location would have made a much bigger impact or not for our company.

The partnership between RSA Logistics and APL Logistics was much-talked about in the industry. What does it cover?

APL Logistics was our first customer at the Dubai Logistics City facility. The agreement came about through our common contacts that APL Logistics was looking for some warehousing space. We approached them and showed our facility and the whole project. With that the company was happy to take a dedicated space and grow its operations hand-in-hand with RSA.

Are there plans to expand your presence at Dubai Logistics City or anywhere else?

Yes, we are planning to fully develop the land on which our current facility sits on. A further 20,000m² can be developed, which should be a viable option in the near future. Although no plans have been finalised, we aim to have dedicated warehouses or chambers for pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods and temperature controlled storage. Looking outside the United Arab Emirates, RSA Logistics has reached the early stages of extending our service portfolio to various markets, such as India and Singapore.

Will there also be a conscious effort to increase brand awareness in the future?

The RSA Logistics brand has steadily boosted its exposure to the customer’s eye. With our state-of-the-art facility and current clientele, we are already a strong brand within Dubai Logistics City. Close synergies with global brands such as UTi, APL Logistics and Diversey have increased our exposure to potential customers. This has further been enhanced by RSA buying its own fleet of vehicles for deliveries within the UAE. Future developments include a second warehouse in the freight forwarding zone at Dubai World Central. Right now, the warehouse is about 80% complete. We aim to have that facility up and running by August 2010.

What other developments have you seen at Dubai Logistics City in the past year?

Since our operations commenced, we have seen large investments in infrastructure, such as road networks, accessibility and utilities. All these are vital to any start-up business, not only for operations but the impression it leaves on existing and potential customers. Moreover, with Al Maktoum International Airport commencing cargo flights from this month, there has been development at a rapid rate. This has not only attracted attention to the project, but RSA as well.

Looking ahead, what are your overall predictions for the logistics industry’s growth in the Middle East?

This region is still expected to become one of the world’s largest in terms of CAGR growth over the next five years, with 8.50% growth. The only difference between the last five years and the next is that the growth will no longer be in double digits, although it still remains higher than the rest of the world.

Dubai’s hotels posted a double digit occupancy rate increase in February, the first the emirate has seen since the start of the impact of the global downturn on its tourism sector.

The emirate’s hotels, which saw big declines in both revenues and occupancy rates in 2009, recorded a 15.9 percent rise to more than 86 percent, the best performer in the Middle East and Africa region.

The increase comes despite fears by some industry experts that the number of new hotels planned in Dubai will lead to an oversupply of rooms.

Latest data published by STR Global showed that the region saw increases in revenue per available room (revPAR), average daily rates (ADR) and occupancy rates.

Occupancy rose 1.9 percent to 65.7 percent, ADR increased 1.7 percent to $166.18, and revPAR grew 3.6 percent to $109.23.

But for the second month running, hotels in Abu Dhabi, which are aiming for 10 percent growth in tourists this year, suffered major declines in February.

In the region, the UAE capital experienced the largest decreases in all three key metrics. The market’s occupancy fell 31.2 percent to 58.9 percent, ADR dropped 39.9 percent to $233.03, and revPAR decreased 58.7 percent to $137.28.

“The Middle East/Africa region reported its first positive month of RevPAR growth since the second half of 2008—resulting in only a 0.8 percent revPAR decline for the first two months of this year, which is a marked improvement from a 10 percent revPAR decline in the 4th quarter 2009,” said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.

Muscat, Oman, also saw a double digit occupancy rate increase to 73.2 percent, STR Global added.

Other than Abu Dhabi, two markets posted revPAR decreases – Muscat (-9.9 percent to $186.84) and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (-1.1 percent to $179.73).

More than 14,000 hotel rooms are set to come on line in the GCC region in 2010, according to new research.

Dubai-based research company Proleads said that the region is likely to see 48 new hotels with 14,178 rooms open in 2010, at an estimated cost of $7.3 billion, despite the impact of the global economic crisis.

The UAE’s infrastructure construction industry is predicted to grow by 3.3 percent in 2010, fuelled by Abu Dhabi which is set to spend $15bn over the next three years on projects.

PROJECT WORK: Infrastructure construction work in the UAE is predicted to grow by 3.3 percent in 2010. (Getty Images)

Business Monitor International said it had cut its growth assessment for the country’s infrastructure sector amid concerns over Dubai’s debt crisis.

In BMI’s Q210 UAE Infrastructure Report, it revised its forecast for industry value real growth for 2010 to 3.3 percent from a previous forecast of 5.5 percent.

“As such, we forecast that industry value will reach AED79.6bn ($21.67bn). This growth will be fuelled by and large Abu Dhabi, and to a lesser extent transport infrastructure projects in Dubai such as the Green Line metro project, the Al-Maktoum International Airport and the expansion of Dubai Airport,” the report said.

BMI added that it had some concerns about Dubai following reports in January of a payment dispute with contractors working on the metro project.

“The resumption of work on the metro removes the immediate shadow of uncertainty this incident had cast over the viability of Dubai’s transport infrastructure investments,” BMI said.

“Though the delay was not large enough to have seriously disrupted the project’s timetable, it did put in to question the government’s ability to finance its ambitious investment
plans,” it added.

In January, Mattar al Tayyer, chairman of Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority, said Dubai could spend about $3bn in transport infrastructure projects in 2010, adding that the emirate had no issue paying its contractors.

“Investing in infrastructure is the driving force for the economy,” he said.

In November last year, Abu Dhabi said it was planning to spend $15bn on infrastructure projects over the next three years to cater for the city’s rising population.

The UAE’s economy minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said investments in Abu Dhabi infrastructure, property and manufacturing were expected to reach about $1 trillion in the medium term.

In February, Australian construction firm Leighton Holdings Limited said its Middle East construction interests “remained at high levels” despite the debt issues in Dubai.

Middle East customers will now be provided with a new level of responsiveness and enterprise networking expertise by Smartworld, in collaboration with 3Com’s enterprise-focused sales teams.

DWC

“Smartworld’s new status of H3C Enterprise Partner is available only to VARs and system integrators whose enterprise customers expect the best possible solutions for their business needs, delivering maximum value, best-in-class performance and the lowest possible total cost of ownership,” says Mahmoud El-Ali, 3Com Regional Manager, Middle East.

“We are finding that large enterprise customers in the Middle East increasingly need to deliver higher network performance and uptime, but are finding it hard to do so with legacy networking products,” said, Mustafa Kaddoura, CTO, Smartworld. “The new H3C enterprise networking portfolio enables us to solve customer’ problems easily while giving them flexible, compatible platforms to take advantage of future technology advancements. We look forward to expanding business opportunities and serving our customers better by utilizing these industry-leading H3C networking solutions from 3Com.”

A next-generation ICT services provider, Smartworld is equipped with highly experienced teams of professionals that design, deploy and manage integrated infrastructure services across the region. Smartworld is based in Dubai World Central delivering advanced, standards-based network infrastructure solutions to enterprise customers in all industry sectors.

“The price/performance innovations of the H3C portfolio set it apart from the rest of the industry,” says 3Com’s Mahmoud El-Ali. “The time is ripe for a new global offering in the enterprise networking space and we look forward to partnering with Smartworld in raising the bar on the level of service and responsiveness large enterprises should expect from their networking vendor. The H3C networking portfolio creates new higher-margin opportunities for our channel partners, and new revenue streams for 3Com.”

You can learn more about this press release by visiting – www.smart-world.ae

Emirates Airline will not move its operations to the new Al Maktoum International Airport until some time between 2022 and 2030, the airline’s president said.

DUBAI CARRIER: Investment at Dubai International Airport has caused Emirates to 'rethink' its relocation plans. (Getty Images)

Tim Clark told the UAE daily, the National, Dubai’s national carrier had had a “rethink” about moving from its base at Dubai International Airport.

“We have refocused here [at Dubai International],” Mr Clark said. “With a certain amount of investment here, you can get a lot more out of this airport,” he told the paper.

The airline had planned to move to the airport being built near Jebel Ali which is aiming to be world’s largest passenger and cargo hub sometime between 2018 and 2020.

Dubai Airports has added new infrastructure at Dubai International to increase capacity to 90 million passengers a year.

Al Maktoum will open a cargo terminal with a capacity of 250,000 tons a year on June 27. The terminal’s capacity will increase to 600,000 tons a year.

Passenger flights are set to begin from the airport next year.