The following column was written by Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

As a guest speaker at last month’s SITA Air Transport Summit in Brussels, I was invited to participate in a discussion on ‘new decade, new efficiencies’, alongside senior officials from the likes of Delta Air Lines, Turkish Airlines and Malaysia Airports. Now in its 10th year, the annual event is a platform for aviation executives to consider the strategic direction of the industry, discuss the latest issues and the role of IT and communications in addressing challenges and opportunities.

During my presentation, I called on airlines, airports, retailers and information technology providers around the world to break down the silo walls and collaborate on technology solutions that improve the passenger experience.

At present, the travel experience at airports is characterised by time-consuming and cumbersome processes. The lack of coordination has created queues for passengers and ultimately, this poor coordination has resulted from a fundamental lack of trust within the industry. It’s therefore about time that we united to change the mindset and the industry model.

With forecasts that passenger journeys will double to 6 billion by 2027 – which will be led by Asia and the Middle East due to their geographical advantage and scope to develop airport capacity – we need a different approach to allow the successful handling of this growth.

For example, passenger numbers in Dubai will grow from over 40 million today to 150 million by 2030. To accommodate that staggering increase, we are building what will eventually become the biggest airport in the world – Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central – featuring five runways and capacity for 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of freight.

The first phase of operations has already commenced with the successful launch of cargo flights last month. However, I believe that today’s processes and technology solutions are desperately lacking. They simply won’t work at that scale of operation.

In fact, over the entire passenger experience, its airports that are most vulnerable to service flaws, as they rely on strong collaboration between an array of stakeholders, including airlines, ground handlers, customs, immigration, security and retailers to name a few. To combat this situation, we need vision, collaboration, customer-focused processes and the smart application technology that can evolve service levels and put the global industry on more sound financial footing.

Of course, many airlines and airports around the world will cringe at the investment that is required to make this steep change. However I would argue that the cost of not changing is far more significant. Almost 50% of dwell time is absorbed by non-commercial processes at an opportunity cost as high as US$35 billion per annum. This is a staggering amount and that money could help address the current imbalance seen across the aviation value chain, which has led to around US$50 billion in losses for airlines over the past decade.

Imagine a future where the customer’s online booking, purchase, seat selection, advance passenger information and biometric data are recorded well in advance. A future where the baggage is checked in advance away from the airport. Biometric data is used to confirm passenger identification, assess security risk and is linked to passenger name records for baggage sequencing, check-in and boarding pass confirmation. And finally, where security scanning occurs simultaneously and unobtrusively in minutes, freeing up time for the customer to relax, dine or shop.

A fresh approach can turn this vision into a reality, as long as the solution is customer-centric, aligns the value chain and results in a seamless process.

Following years of preparation, Dubai finally opened the doors to its ground-breaking Al Maktoum International Airport last month, which is set to cement the Middle East’s position as a global aviation hub.

Dubai marked its transition into a two-airport city last month, with the much-awaited launch of cargo operations at Al Maktoum International. A diverse range of cargo carriers have registered to operate in the airport – which is part of the multi-billion dollar Dubai World Central development – including Aban Air, ACI, Aerospace Consortium, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Coyne Airways, EuroAsian Services, Rus Aviation, Sonic Jet, SunGlobal, Skyline and United Aviation Services.

To celebrate the launch, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Dubai, and his son Sheikh Hamdan Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai, were provided a royal tour, alongside HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Dubai Airports.

“Phase one is the first step in a long infrastructure development project that over time will see our new airport transformed into the world’s largest global gateway and a multi-modal logistics hub, while playing an increasingly integral role in the ongoing economic and social development of Dubai,” comments Sheikh Ahmed.

“The inauguration of Al Maktoum International serves as a timely reminder to regional and international stakeholders of the strength of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, who continues to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to meeting the long-term infrastructure growth and capital requirements of our city.”

Sheikh Ahmed also reinforces the fact that Dubai World Central will support the emirate’s aviation, tourism, commercial and logistics requirements through 2050 and beyond. “The Government of Dubai remains fully committed to the timely realisation of the airport and Dubai World Central as whole. There is no doubt that this multi-modal logistics hub will provide significant benefits to the economy of Dubai and the wider region, particularly at a time when the transportation and logistics sector is playing an increasingly important role in the city’s rapidly diversifying economy.”

The initial phase of the airport will feature an A380 capable runway, 64 remote stands, a cargo terminal with annual capacity for 250,000 tonnes of freight, and a passenger terminal building designed to accommodate five million passengers per year. “Although it’s a long-term project, the need for a second airport in the near to mid-term is clear,” states Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. “Dubai International currently has capacity for 2.5 million tonnes of cargo, while volumes are expected increase to 3 million tonnes by 2015. On the passenger side we expect to see numbers skyrocket from the 41 million that passed through Dubai International in 2009 to 98 million by 2020 and 150 million by 2030.”

Griffiths adds that the new airport’s facilities and connectivity to the Jebel Ali Port and Jebel Ali Free Zone by a bonded road is being acknowledged by adopting airlines. “We are delighted with the response from cargo operators who are seizing the opportunity. DWC opened with 15 cargo airlines signed up and we expect that number to increase steadily over the next few months.”

The airport’s opening was preceded by the presentation of DWC’s official aerodrome certification to Sheikh Ahmed from Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, director general of General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which followed a detailed aviation safety and security certification programme.

“This is the 8th International Aerodrome within the United Arab Emirates to receive a certification from the GCAA,” states Al Suwaidi. In addition to the aerodrome being certified, DWC was the first to obtain organisation certificates for air traffic services, communication, navigation and surveillance, aeronautical information services and aviation meteorology services.”

Once completed, Al Maktoum International will be the largest airport in the world, with five runways, four terminal buildings and annual facilitation for a total of 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo.

New airport projects set to drive the emirate’s economic growth. Funding needed to rival network expansion in Doha and Abu Dhabi

DWC

With Dubai’s real estate boom over, the government is looking to the aviation and logistics sector to drive future economic growth.

For this to work, Dubai will have to overcome the same challenges that brought down the emirate’s beleaguered property sector. It will first need to secure financing for its outstanding airport developments.

To address the funding gap, Dubai’s Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) is in talks with a number of local banks to drum up financing for some of the more urgent airport projects. These include the expansion of Terminal 2 and the remaining contracts at Concourse 3, both of which are at Dubai International airport.

Another key project that needs financing is Aviation City, which is earmarked as the next part of Dubai World Central to be developed now that the first phase of Al-Maktoum International airport is open.

DCA should be able to secure funding for the planned work at Terminal 2 and the $1.3bn Concourse 3. But with the price tag for the rest of Dubai World Central currently at about $30bn, Dubai will find it a lot harder to finance this in one go.

Dubai needs to find the money. Its Gulf neighbours are developing more than $27bn-worth of airport projects between them. With Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways buying new aircraft and expanding their networks, Abu Dhabi and Doha could replace Dubai as the region’s premier aviation hub in the next five years.

The critical advantage Dubai has is time. Abu Dhabi has not yet prequalified contractors for its midfield terminal complex, while the completion date for the first phase of New Doha International airport has been delayed by two years to late 2011.

Already ahead of the competition, Dubai does not need to find the money immediately. If it secures the funding in the next two years it can start building a new generation of projects that will put it even further ahead of its neighbours.

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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)

Service provider Smartworld has completed the installation of two Tier-3 rated datacentres in Dubai World Central with the help of power and cooling specialist APC by Schneider Electric. Smartworld is involved with a number of major upcoming technology projects in Dubai and specialises in the aviation sector, with a business unit devoted to airport systems.

APC's Infrastruxture's on-demand architecture allows us to deliver a better level of service to our customers, says Smartworld's Kaddoura.

With the new datacentres, Smartworld incorporated a number of elements from the APC portfolio, including its InRow cooling architecture which aims to cut energy costs by 30%. Construction of the 100 sqm datacentres began in June 2008.

According to APC, each datacentre uses 30 racks with Symmetra PX2 UPS (two units with a capacity of 160 KW), nine units of InRow DX Cooling, nine indoor and outdoor units and 30 Netshelter racks. The system is managed by APC’s InfraStruXure Central which can send detailed critical alerts to infrastructure managers.

Mustafa Kaddoura, the CTO for Smartworld commented on the successful implementation: “APC fully integrates power, cooling, rack, management, security and services and has provided considerable benefits to Smartworld. Infrastruxture’s on-demand architecture allows us to deliver a better level of service to our customers.”

“This high density deployment will help us provide our customers with true business continuity for their critical business needs. Many of the region’s datacentres have been built on demand or for short-term vision which is as good as a quick-fix.  Smartworld datacentres are built with a long-term vision and are highly secure, reliable, scalable eco-friendly and cost effective to our customers.” he added.

Rising power densities, unprecedented cooling issues, increased energy demands and soaring prices mean power and cooling are now a customers’ central focus. The clear path to capturing these new revenue streams lie in providing solutions, not just products” added Rodney Callaghan, Vice President for the Gulf at APC by Schneider Electric.

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.

DC Aviation is preparing to open its temporary hangar and fixed-base operation at Dubai World Central in the fourth quarter as part of the German company’s offensive in the lucrative Middle Eastern market.

“Initially we will offer FBO services as well as line maintenance in Dubai on German, US and Dubai-registered Bombardier and Airbus business jets. We will add other types as and when there is sufficient demand,” says DC Aviation chief executive Steffen Fries.

DC is starting with a temporary solution of between one and a half and three years at the site “as we are not sure where we will end up [in Dubai]“, says Fries. DC has a fleet of 30 aircraft – a third of which are company owned. It flies three ACJs – two managed and one owned – and is scheduled to take delivery of a fourth managed aircraft at the end of the month, making it the largest operator of the type.

Fries says the company is planning to double its fleet within three years, with emphasis on the midsize cabin sector and above which, he adds, has been less affected by the economic slowdown than its light-cabin stablemates.

The Stuttgart-based company is scheduled to take delivery in the fourth quarter of the first of two Embraer Legacy 650s.