ab routes day one - cirium

THE BATTLE FOR MARKETshare in the fledgling Gulf-USmarket is heating up, with majorcarriers on both sides addingcapacity and revealing newroutes.

Some carriers including Etihadand United Airlines have alreadyfirmed up plans for new non-stop services linking the MiddleEast and USA. Several othershave broad plans to launch serv-ices in the market but are stillpondering their options and willtake advantage of contacts withairports made at Routes beforeselecting their city pairs.

Capacity on routes betweenthe Gulf states and the USA isbeing added at a tremendouspace, with the number of week-ly frequencies roughly doublingover the last two years to 30,according to Innovata. This fig-ure will rise again after AbuDhabi-based Etihad launches adaily Abu Dhabi-New York JFKservice on 26 October withAirbus A340-500s. It will be thefirst non-stop service betweenAbu Dhabi and New York,

BRINGING YOU THE NEWS FROM ROUTES DUBAI NETWORKING FORUM – DAY ONE: SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER

Dubai2006

✈ TALKING SHOP - EVENTS AROUND ROUTES TODAY

Gulf-US takes centre stage

Routes opens today with chairmanMike Howarth, anticipating a record25,000 one-to-one meetings betweenairlines and airports.

“With high level delegations fromthe likes of the USA, India, Russia,Malaysia, Scandinavia and Australia,Routes in Dubai is a truly globalevent,” he says. The 300-plus airlinesand 600-plus airports, industryorganisations and manufacturers rep-resented are further bolstered by theco-located ICAO LiberalisationConference at the DubaiInternational Conference andExhibition Centre, at which a highnumber of officials from the world’scivil aviation authorities will attend.

Today’s programme includes anumber of events:

0715 - 1500 The 5th Annual Routes Golf Tournament at Arabian Ranches Golf Club

0900 - 1600 Orientation Tour of Dubai City 1130 - 1300 African Networking Lunch at the Novotel 1330 Registration Desk and Diary Advice & Extra Meetings Desk

Open and Hosted Networking Stands Open – Open House in the Networking Village

1400 - 1500 Industry Briefing: Airport Infrastructure presentation by Richard Tollis, Partner, Ernst & Young in Dubai Rooms C & D, Level 1

1500 - 1530 Industry Briefing: Olivier Onidi, Head of International Air Transport Agreements, Directorate General for Energy & Transport, European Commission in Dubai Rooms E & F,Level 1

1600 - 1700 Industry Briefing: Aircraft Manufacturer presentation by Airbus (pre-booking necessary) in Dubai Rooms C & D,Level 1

1730 - 1930 Welcome Reception hosted by Dubai Department of Civil Aviation in the Networking Village

Etihad’s second North Americandestination after Toronto.

United Airlines also plans tolaunch at the end of October anon-stop Kuwait-WashingtonDulles service three times per

Sheikh Rashid terminal at Dubai’s international airport is a focal point for visitors to Routes but the airport could beone of many in the region to benefit fromroute development between the Gulf statesand the USA

week using Boeing 777s. Thesigning at the end of August ofan open skies accord betweenKuwait and the USA should leadto more expansion of commer-cial services between the two

countries. Kuwait Airways hasoperated services to the USAsince 1978 under a mutual gov-ernment accord and currentlyflies three-times weekly betweenKuwait and New York JFK with777-200s.

United will be the first US car-rier to fly into the Gulf since2001 when TWA dropped itsNew York-Cairo-Riyadh service.Continental Airlines and DeltaAir Lines, both of which nowserve Israel, are ponderinglaunching new services to theGulf from their Newark and NewYork JFK hubs. Continental andDelta will be at Routes alongwith American Airlines and USAirways.

Emirates is driving most of thetraffic growth in the Middle East-US market. It began flights toNew York JFK two years ago andupped the frequency to double-daily in November last year. Thecarrier plans to add a third dailyNew York connection, viaHamburg in Germany from 29October. Emirates has even moreambitions for the USA and ismulling destinations on the WestCoast and in the Mid-West.

Emirates is already the largestcarrier in the Gulf-US market,followed by Royal Jordanianwith 10 weekly A340 flights tothree US destinations – Chicago,New York and Detroit. SaudiArabian is the third largest withweekly Boeing 747-400 flightson a Washington-New York-Jeddah-Riyadh routing. KuwaitAirways is the fourth and lastGulf carrier currently in the mar-ket.

Qatar Airways is anotherMiddle Eastern carrier eyeing theother side of the Atlantic, havingjust taken delivery of the first of10 A340-600s.

Qatar, Etihad and Emirateswill all attend Routes and use theevent to forge new contacts withNorth American airports. ■

AIRLINE BUSINESS @ ROUTES 17 September 2006 3

Life returns to Beirut airportCARRIERS ARE GRADUALLY RESUMINGservices to the Lebanese capital Beirut afterthe introduction of a ceasefire that haltedhostilities between neighbouring Israel andLebanese resistance fighters Hezbollah andthe lifting of a military blockade.

Home carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA)has been gradually reintroducing servicesfrom Beirut and the carrier says its entire fleethas now been repatriated to Beirut from theSyrian capital Damascus, where MEA opera-tions were based during the conflict.

British Airways franchise partner BMed andQatar Airways have both restarted commer-cial flights to Beirut’s Rafic HaririInternational Airport following approvalfrom the Lebanese authorities.

Etihad Airways has resumed its four-timesweekly Abu Dhabi-Beirut service, alongsidethe daily service by low-cost carrier Air Arabiafrom Sharjah.

German flag-carrier Lufthansa has restartedits five-times weekly services from Frankfurt,and Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways and Emirateshave also returned to the Lebanese capital.

INSIDE TRACK

Daily editorial teamMark PillingAlan PeafordJackie ThompsonMike Martin

ContributorsBrendan SobieDavid FieldMike MillerFabrice Tacoun

Andrea Crisp

Editorial AssistantAndy Costerton

Layout & productionAndy Forrester

PhotographerIan Billinghurst

DistributionGeorge Lowrie

Advertisement salesRobert HancockShawn Buck

Printed byAtlas Printing Press LLCDubai

The Daily News team can becontacted at Room B, outsidethe Sheikh Maktoum Hall atthe Routes event. Telephone:(+9714) 331-1408 email:[email protected]

© Airline Business 2005

Editorial head officeQuadrant House, The Quadrant,Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS, UKTel: +44 208 652 4996Fax: +44 208 652 8914e-mail: [email protected]

Visit us on the webwww.airlinebusiness.com

PUBLISHED BY AIRLINE BUSINESS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TRIDENT COMMUNICATIONS

✈ KLM DROPSMIDDLE EAST TRIO KLM will cease serving Amman in Jordan andDamascus in Syria on 29 October and has alsoannounced that it does not intend to resumeservices to Beirut in Lebanon, adding that theroute was “already loss-making” before theconflict.

It will instead rely on a codeshare with AirFrance.

Following their merger last year, the twocarriers cut several services, leaving cities suchas Doha, Jakarta and Manila with service fromonly one carrier. They say they are now goingthrough the final phase of their joint restruc-turing.

MAS and Gulf Air to codeshareMalaysia Airlines (MAS) and Gulf Air have agreed to codeshare on flights between Kuala Lumpur andthe Middle East. Under the terms of the agreement MAS will add its code to Gulf Air-operated flightsto the Malaysian capital from Bahrain and Muscat. MAS is seeking new codeshare agreements withforeign carriers as it is scaling back international operations as part of a restructuring plan.

BMed expands networkBritish Airways franchise partner BMed plans to extend its network to West Africa at the end ofOctober with a thrice weekly service from London Heathrow to Freetown in Sierra Leone and Dakar inSenegal. It will be the only airline operating direct links from the UK to the two African countries, notserved by BA since the early 1990s.

China Postal goes international Chinese freight carrier China Postal Airlines has launched its first international services with flightsbetween Beijing and the South Korean capital Seoul. Flights are being operated three times a weekwith Boeing 737 freighters and the carrier says it plans to expand its fledgling international networkwith services to Japan. China Postal is a joint venture between China Post and China Southern Airlines.

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Emirates will initially operate three-timesweekly from Dubai while Gulf Air’s service willbe daily.

Air France has resumed service at four-timesweekly flights at first, three less than before thestart of the hostilities. "Demand will determinewhether we go back to those levels. But thefirst flight was nearly full," says Air France. The

French flag carrier is also taking over servicespreviously operated by merger partner KLM.

The airport was severely damaged duringfighting, with runways and taxiways sustain-ing bomb damage that forced airlines to with-draw. The terminal buildings, however, werelargely undamaged and it is business as usualfor the airport’s shops.


Saudi Arabia’s National Air Services (NAS) isplanning to launch a low-cost carrier with theUK’s easyJet a potential partner. NAS, whichalready operates all-premium carrier Al-Khayala, lodged an application with the SaudiArabian General Authority of Civil Aviation(GACA) last month for a domestic low-costcarrier licence.

NAS has asked UK-based low-cost playereasyJet if it can use its brand but NAS market-ing manager Yasir Niazi says it is prepared tolaunch a low-cost carrier later this year with orwithout a foreign partner. EasyJet says it willlikely not decide on the franchise proposalfrom NAS until early 2007.

“NAS is committed to launching this low-cost airline,” Niazi says. “We are able tolaunch as soon as we get permission…but itwill take three or four months to get thelicences.”

To help fund the launch, NAS has raisedadditional capital through a new shares offer-

ing led by investment firm Abraaj Nas. EasyJetis not being asked to invest but only sell itsname.

EasyJet says it is “evaluating an opportuni-ty to franchise its brand following a recentjoint approach by Jeddah-based NAS andDubai-based Abraaj Capital”. It says therewould not be any overlap with its currentbusiness because the new carrier will only flywithin the Middle East. EasyJet just extendedits network to Turkey but has no plans toexpand further east. Niazi says the start-upwill be limited to domestic routes for the firsttwo years.

NAS became the first privately owned avia-tion company in Saudi Arabia in 1999 when itlaunched a business jet fractional ownershipand charter service. Its fleet has since expand-ed to 47 aircraft and last year it launched anall business-class service connecting key citiesin Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countrieswith Airbus A319s and A320s.

NAS is now in a position to expand into thelost-cost sector following liberalisation atGACA, which is now considering applicationsfrom six Saudi companies seeking to launchairlines. Sama, founded by InvestmentEnterprises and headed by Prince Bandar binKhalid al Faisal with support from UK-basedMango Aviation Partners, also has applied toGAMA for a licence to launch a low-cost air-line by year-end. The other four applicationsare from travel group Al-Tayar; the Al-Mamiaka company, proposing to operate BurjAirlines; Petrogal, on behalf of Al-WatanAirlines; and Saudi trading company Ikhwan.

GACA plans to complete initial evaluationsby the end of September and award newlicences by year-end.

The opening up of the Saudi market is partof a region-wide push to expand its fledglinglow-cost industry, which now only includesSharjah-based Air Arabia and Kuwait’s JazeeraAirways.

INSIDE TRACK

Saudi ready for low-cost revolution

Jet plots nextEuropean push

India’s Jet Airways, which onlybegan operating internationalflights in May 2005, is here atRoutes and says it is in the finalstages of deciding its next waveof European services. Severalcities are being studied, includ-ing Brussels, Frankfurt,Munich, Paris and Rome, saysEmmanuel Menu, generalmanager UK & Ireland for JetAirways.

The flights will transitthrough these cities on theirway to North American pointslike Chicago, New York orToronto, with Jet seeking tobegin operations at the start ofthe 2007 winter season. Thetiming and number of routesto be launched “depends on

when our 777s and A330s aredelivered”, says Menu. The car-rier has 10 Airbus A330s and10 Boeing 777-300ERs onorder. Jet will also look to oper-ate US services to SanFrancisco, most probably viaChina.

As it plans its Europeanexpansion, Jet is building itsUK-India services. “We are real-locating aircraft to the UK andaccelerating our development,”says Menu. From July, the carri-er has been operating twicedaily A340 services betweenLondon Heathrow andMumbai, and in the samemonth it launched a new routebetween Heathrow andAmritsar in northern India. Jet

also flies daily from Heathrowto Delhi. The three times week-ly Amritsar service will rise tosix weekly in January as Jettakes more aircraft.

Jet will later move into serv-ing regional UK cities likeBirmingham, Glasgow andManchester, says Menu, butbefore that it will add anotherIndian city to its London net-work during 2007, says Menu.

Although competitionbetween the UK and India hassoared, with Jet entering orexpanding into the marketalong with bmi, BritishAirways and Virgin Atlantic, itis comfortable having wonwhat it claims is a “fair share”of the UK market, says Menu.

Jet now offers 22% of theavailable seats on the London-Mumbai market and 16% onthe London-Delhi market.

Overall, the India-UK marketis growing at 20% per year,however capacity has risenfaster. In the past two years, thetotal seats offered in theLondon-Mumbai market hasincreased by 114%, and by60% between London andDelhi.

Jet is also expanding itsinternational network intoAsia. Its latest service began on6 September linking Delhi withSingapore on daily 737 flights.The airline already servesSingapore daily from Chennaiand Mumbai.

6 AIRLINE BUSINESS @ ROUTES 17 September 2006

EXHIBITOR NEWS

AIRPORTS IN THE WESTERN USA ARE BIG PLACES- and many of them sit on buried treasure. As theworld energy crisis pushes the price of oil and gashigher, these airports are finding ways to exploitthe energy reserves underneath their property.

Denver International Airport inherited oil andgas drilling when it was built in the 1990s, and nowis about to expand it as other airports in the Westare finding the resources a way to strike it rich.

D/FW, as the 18,000 acre Dallas/Fort WorthInternational Airport is known to nearly every busi-ness flyer who has ever had to change aircraft,thinks it is close to striking it rich. Not with newroutes or concessions or parking lots, but literally.The airport, between the two North Texas metrop-olises, has become the latest to sign a deal to allownatural gas drilling.

It signed a deal with Oklahoma-basedChesapeake Energy that will gain it at least $181million plus royalties in return for the right to oper-ate five drilling rigs. Chesapeake will have access toabout half the airport acreage. D/FW’s runways,taxiways, terminal areas and other off-limits areaswould be protected, but the energy company, by

drilling down and then out in L-shaped patterns,can reach areas under the airport. The FAA willclosely watch the placement of drilling equipment.

D/FW sits at the eastern edge of a geological for-mation called the Barnett Shale, an undergroundarea that holds vast amounts of gas. As the marketprice of gas and oil have risen, energy companieshave retuned to this once-neglected area, drawn bythe combination of higher prices and improvedexploration technology and drilling techniques.

D/FW is not alone on sitting on buried treasure;there are about 50 active oil wells at the Will RogersWorld Airport in Oklahoma City, and at Denver, ahuge 34,000 acre facility. As many as 90 wells werepumping away when it was built in the 1990s, and53 are still active. Now Petro-Canada Resources,which owns 10 of those active wells, is set toincrease drilling on the airport. Denver, which tookin $3.8 million in royalties in 2005, stands to takein more, but is not yet certain how much. “Oil andgas exploration is not and an exact science so wecan’t say for sure how much revenue these opera-tions will bring to the airport,” says airport chieffinancial officer Stan Koniz.

Hoping to strike it rich

✈ CEBU LANDS ATCHANGI’S BUDGETTERMINALSingapore Changi airport’sbudget terminal, which wasopened earlier this year, nowhas two carrier tenants.Following in the slipstream ofSingapore’s low-cost TigerAirways, which moved intothe terminal in March,Philippines-based Cebu Pacifichas opted to use the airport’sbudget terminal.

This follows approval fromthe Civil Aviation Authority ofSingapore (CAAS) for Cebu tofly scheduled passenger servic-es from Manila to Singapore.A daily non-stop service fromManila to Singapore waslaunched at the end ofAugust.

Cebu Pacific is credited withbeing Asia’s first no-frills air-line and first launched aManila-Singapore service inOctober 2002 using Boeing757s but later suspended theservice.

The carrier will be compet-ing on the route againstSingapore-based low-cost car-rier Jetstar Asia and full-servicecarriers Singapore Airlines andPhilippine Airlines. TigerAirways operates fromSingapore to Clark, a second-ary airport near Manila.

Ho Beng Huat, CAAS deputydirector-general of civil avia-tion, says: “We are very happyto welcome Cebu Pacific as thesecond carrier to operate out ofSingapore’s budget terminal.The terminal’s operatingmodel of “no frills” efficiencyand low-cost operations willserve very well Cebu Pacific’sbusiness model.”

He adds: “Passenger trafficbetween the Philippines andSingapore has been growingstrongly. Last year, passengertraffic was 994,000, up 19%over 2004. For the first sevenmonths of this year, trafficincreased by a further 24%.”

The number of weeklyflights at the budget terminalhas also increased by about50%, from 124 in March to188 today, says the airport.

Capitol growth as United gears up

United Airlines is preparing for anew Southwest Airlines assault bybeefing up service at Washington’sDulles International Airport,which has been United’s majorEast Coast hub for 20 years –andwhich will be Southwest’s newestairport in October.

United plans to increase itsDulles service by 13% in a build-up that will add 22 new flightsfrom Dulles, including domesticand international elementsaimed at its eastward globalexpansion.

By November, United will beproviding 321 daily departures.Mark Treadaway, the air servicesplanning and development vice-president for the MetropolitanWashington Airports Authority,

says: “The move confirms thatDulles is the East Coast interna-tional hub for United, confirmsits commitment to Dulles as aninternational gateway and as apoint for strong domestic feed.”

The United flights include anew service to Kuwait under ajust-signed open skies bilateralwith the Middle Eastern state,daily service to Narita, Japan,and, if it wins a Department ofTransportation competition, anew route to China.

Its Dulles-Beijing service bidputs United in competition witha plan by American Airlines formore Dallas/Fort Worth service toChina, as well as rival bids fromNorthwest and ContinentalAirlines, and represents United’s

eastward focus as the airline trimsin response to transatlantic com-petition. Its recent sale of its NewYork JFK-London Gatwick routeto Delta Air Lines is a sign of this.

From Dulles domestically,United will offer new daily serv-ice to West Palm Beach, Florida,beginning in December, followedby Fort Myers, Florida andTucson, Arizona, both in lateOctober. It is also adding servicesto around a dozen cities alreadyserved from Dulles. United is fill-ing a void left after the demise oflow-cost carrier Independence Airin January. Air traffic at Dulleshas grown since that time, climb-ing from 1.5 million passengers amonth in February to more than2 million in June.


EXHIBITOR NEWS

One Routes exhibitor uses theannual event as a milestone tojudge its growth, and here, inone of the fastest growingcities in the world it is appro-priate that Sabre’s airport con-sulting practice is finding itselfas one of the fastest growingconsulting services in theindustry.

In 2003 at Routes Edinburgh,

it accounted for only a handfulof international clients, andless than 3% of its total con-sulting revenues.

The practice now comes toDubai following a series ofacquisitions, partnerships, anda greater corporate focus on theairport industry, as one of thelargest and fastest growing air-port consulting service

providers in the industry. Andit says, there is more in thepipeline.

Some 120 airports across theglobe currently work withSabre’s airport consulting busi-ness ranging from regional air-ports such as Groeningen inthe Netherlands, through to awide range of global carrierhubs including Dallas/FortWorth, and Singapore’sChangi.

Of those 120 clients, Sabresays that 65 were new first timeclients in 2005.

In the early years, Sabreoffered almost exclusively mar-ket information services buthas expanded its offerings toinclude comprehensive com-mercial and air-service devel-opment solutions, and hasrecently expanded further intomore operations and cargorelated areas.

It has also begun investing innew market analysis relatedproducts attempting to capi-talise on its position as theindustry’s largest MIDTprovider.

This includes the launch ofthe Sabre ADI online data serv-ice. This comprehensive traf-fic, schedule and capacity datatool has already proven popu-lar with more than 35 airports,airport management compa-nies, and government agenciescontracted onto the servicewithin its first eight months ofoperation.

Speaking at the build–up toRoutes, Damian Brooke, Sabre’sPartner responsible for theInternational Airport andGovernment practice says “Wetruly believe that going for-

ward, Sabre is the best posi-tioned of all of the airport con-sulting service providers,through its combination ofexperienced consultants, anddirect access to industry-lead-ing analysis and technologysolutions.

“We have the distinct advan-tage of being able to provideour clients with solutions gen-erated from the same systemswhich are being provided tothe airlines by the product-armof Sabre, with methodologieswhich the airlines alreadyunderstand.

“For example, we have theability to provide our air-serv-ice development airport clientssolutions using the same fore-casting tools that their targetairlines are using. This has ledto the airlines having a greatercomfort level with the analysisbeing presented by our clients.Not many competitors are ableto offer that level of comfort”

Brooke says that Sabreexpects to continue its growthover the next few years,through internal and externalstrategic initiatives, as well asthrough continuing to expandits service offerings.

“We opened our first interna-tional office dedicated to air-port consulting in Australia inAugust of 2005, and that hasresulted in over a dozen newAsian clients in the past 12months. We will be opening aEuropean office immediatelyafter Routes Dubai, and weexpect to continue the sameand greater levels of growth tooccur in Europe and the MiddleEast over the same period,” hesaid.

Flight Support, the UK’s newest ground handling company,makes its debut at the Routes event on the back of its acquisitionof Manchester Handling giving it a presence at Britain’s thirdlargest airport.

The Isle of Man-based company has also just won a new con-tract to provide ground support to Scottish low cost carrier fly-globespan.com at Manchester and Liverpool Airports. OnNovember 2, Flyglobespan begins long haul flights fromManchester to Cape Town and Toronto with Boeing 767-300 air-craft. From John Lennon Liverpool Airport it launches flights toPrague and Tenerife, using the B737-800 and B757-200. NewYork follows in May 2007.

Flyglobespan becomes the latest customer at Flight Support’sgrowing Liverpool Airport base, where it already looks after suchcustomers as VLM, WIZZ, Balkan Holidays, Air Europa, Avia Jetand EuroManx, plus the Royal Mail flights operated by AirCharter Services and air freight company DHL. Flight Supporttook over the Liverpool operation from Aviance in October 2005and this base now supports 39 staff.

Isle of Man Ronaldsway Airport is Flight Support’s largest base,supporting 43 staff. Customers include EuroManx, VLM, Flybe,BNWA, Blue Islands (nee RockHopper), plus the mail contrac-tors.

“Since our creation just over a year ago, we have set out tooffer a fresh, ‘can do’ approach for all our customers. We go allout to try and exceed their expectations and believe the attentionis in the detail,” says Flight Support chief executive Brett Turner.

Flight Support takes off at Manchester

Innovata pens new agreementAtlanta based database and software services company Innovata, andleading ground handling company Penauille Servisair, will today announce along-term data partnership agreement.Innovata is to supply a weekly extract of its SRS Schedules data intoPenauille Servisair’s central database which is used to supplement opera-tional data to more than 140 locations. The SRS database, marketed inassociation with IATA, is managed and maintained by Innovata with over900 airlines participating in and regularly updating the database directly.Innovata’s data will also be supplied to Sabre Airline Solutions.

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Sabre now at the cutting edge


ATIIn conjunction with Air Transport Intelligence, the 24-hour

news and data service from the publisher of FlightInternational, Airline Business and Flight Daily News.

Find us at: www.rati.com

FRAPORT MIGHT INVEST IN CHINA'S GUANGZHOU AIRPORTGerman airport group Fraport isconsidering investing in NewBaiyun International Airport inGuangzhou, southern China.

Guangzhou airport operatorGuangdong Airport Managementhas “talked with Fraport and bothsides have agreed to co-operate”,says the state-run China Daily, cit-ing remarks made by Liu Zijing,president of Guangdong AirportManagement.

Liu says they are speaking toFraport because his group is seek-

ing capital to fund the second-phase of the airport’s develop-ment plus it wants to draw onwestern management expertise.

New Baiyun InternationalAirport’s second-phase expan-sion, “due to begin in 2010”, is a17.5 billion yuan ($2.2 billion)investment that includes newcargo terminals for FedEx and arunway capable of handling theAirbus A380, according to thereport.

FedEx announced in 2005 it

would be moving its Asia-Pacifichub from Subic Bay in thePhilippines to the Guangzhou air-port starting 2008.

China’s government in recentyears has handed managementcontrol of the country’s airportsto local and provincial govern-ments, with the exception ofBeijing Capital InternationalAirport and a few airports inTibet, and it has allowed foreign-ers to buy equity in Chinese air-ports.

EC BLOCKS UK ROUTE SUPPORT SCHEME

UK ROUTE DEVELOPMENTsupport for air links with non-European destinations is to behalted by the EuropeanCommission (EC) with effectfrom June next year.

The Scottish Executive’sRoute Development Fund (RDF)was established in 2002. It offersfinancial assistance to encour-age the creation of otherwiseunlikely direct air routes. Similarschemes have been initiated inNorthern Ireland and Wales.

EC representative for ScotlandNeil Mitchison says that the UKrecently sought Europeanapproval for the funding initia-tives, but the EC decided thatwith effect from June next year,support can only be given forintra-European routes.

Around 40 services, either cur-rently operated or due to startnext spring, are supported bythe Scottish RDF. This includesEmirates’ Dubai-Glasgow serviceand Continental’s link betweenEdinburgh and Newark. Existing

deals on routes to non-European destinations coveredby the scheme, and those agreedbefore next May’s deadline, willstill be allowed to run for threeyears, which is the normal dura-tion of a Scottish RDF grant.

Mitchison says the ECencourages the development ofintra-European air links, butthat the lack of open skies dealswith some non-European coun-

tries could limit competition.“The situation might well bereviewed once we have an openskies agreement,” he adds.

Independent financial servic-es body Scottish FinancialEnterprise says that the RDFhas helped to developScotland’s air links, aiding localbusiness growth. It says thatthe body would be “very disap-pointed” if the scheme, which

brings “tremendous advan-tages” to the sector, did not goon.

Route funding through theScottish RDF has, to date,averaged $2.30 per passenger.It is paid to airports to offsetthe costs associated with start-ing a new route and can bepassed onto airline operatorsthrough airport chargingstructures.

inbriefTiger roars on

Singapore low-cost carrierTiger Airways plans to dra-matically increase servicesto Thailand and Macau.As of October 29 Tigerwill be increasing itsSingapore-Krabi service toeight flights per weekfrom five, Singapore-Hatyai to 12 flights perweek from 11 andSingapore-Macau to 10flights weekly from seven,Tiger says in a statement.It also says on 1 Decemberit will be increasing thefrequency of its Singapore-Phuket service to 21flights per week from 14and the Singapore-Bangkok service will alsoincrease to 21 flights perweek from 14.

Tokyo Narita International Airport is extending itssecond runway so it can handle larger aircraft and toeffectively boost the airport’s capacity.

Japan’s land, infrastructure and transport ministerKazuo Kitagawa has just granted approval for therunway extension to 2,500m (8,200ft) from 2,180mand the work is due to be completed in March 2010.

Qantas Airways’ low-cost carrier Jetstar has firmedup the launch dates for its Honolulu service, whichwill be commencing during Australia’s peak travelseason. Jetstar says in a statement it will be launch-ing its thrice-weekly Sydney-Honolulu service on27 December and it will commence the twice-week-ly Melbourne-Honolulu service on 29 December.

NARITA EXTENDS ALOHA JETSTAR

Scotland's Glasgow airport - manyservices are supported by the RDF

TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT INFORMATION provider OAG will again host theNew Airline Hall at Routes in Dubai, after two previous years’ participation at theevent.

OAG monitors start-up airline activity on a worldwide basis from conceptionto the first operation to ensure it holds the schedules of new airlines from launch.

The New Airline Hall houses carriers from all over the world, giving them theopportunity to meet airports, airlines and industry suppliers all under one roof.The pre-arranged meetings provide an opportunity to discuss expansion plans,increasing revenues and cutting costs, as well as accessing resources and infor-mation critical to route development needs.

Details of selected airlines and operations, both current and planned, are list-ed where available. The information comes from OAG and the Flight Group’sonline news service, Air Transport Intelligence, as well as Airline Business.

NEWCOMERS

OAG NEW AIRLINE HALL

ARABJETBASE: Dubai.

Arabjet is a regional, all business class, premium service scheduledpassenger start-up airline.

AIR ASTURIASBASE: Oviedo, Spain

Air Asturias is a low-cost start-up, based in the Asturias region ofnorthern Spain. It plans to begin operations to several European andLatin American destinations in 2006 with two leased Airbus A320sand one Boeing 767-300ER.

DALMATIAN.HRBASE: Split, Zagreb and one other, Croatia.

Dalmatian.hr aims to commence flight operations during the springof 2007 with a mixed fleet of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-300 air-craft within domestic Croatia and to other European destinations.

During the summer period of 2007, Dalmatian.hr will commencelow-cost long-haul flights from Croatia to cities in the USA, Canada,Asia and Australia. Customers will be able to travel direct or via Zagrebat low fares in comparison to legacy carriers. The airline intends togradually increase its fleet throughout the first five years adding addi-tional aircraft and increasing its European network alongside its long-haul destination network in North American, Asia and Australia.

It is anticipated that by the end of year five operations, theDalmatian.hr fleet will exceed 50 aircraft.

EOSBASE: New York.

Eos is a privately held start-up airline focused exclusively on theinternational business traveller. The airline began operations with itsinaugural flight on 18 October 2005 from Kennedy to London’sStansted Airport using a specially configured business-class Boeing757-200. Eos runs a loyalty programme for travellers and offers pre-mium services such as car service and kerbside escort.

EXPRESSJET EUROPEBASE: Cork, Ireland.

ExpressJet Europe is a proposed regional feeder carrier planning to devel-op the capacity purchase agreement concept (CPA) in Europe. It hopes tobegin operations at the end of 2006 or early 2007. The carrier will acquireits fleet through a combination of purchase and lease agreements.

FAROEJETBASE: Sørvágur, Faroe Islands.

Established in December 2005, Faroejet is a privately backed start-upairline, operating scheduled services between Copenhagen and theFaroe Islands using a leased Avro RJ100. The airline plans to add air-craft to its fleet and further destinations within Denmark in 2007.

FLY GIBRALTARBASE: Gibraltar.

Gibraltar’s first low-cost and locally based airline plans to launch low-cost flights from Gibraltar to London Stansted, Birmingham, Bristol,Manchester, Dublin and Cork from April 2007 but expects to startticketing from October 2006. Backed by Gibraltar-based PropertyDevelopment (International), the new carrier will operate two leasedaircraft in a one-class configuration carrying 148 passengers.

GADAIRBASE: Madrid

Gadair European Airlines is a Spanish start-up airline planning tolaunch operations this year with a twice-weekly service from Madridto Doula in Camaroon. Services from Madrid to Quito in Ecuadorand from Quito to New York will be added later.

GOLDEN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINESBASE: Istanbul

Golden International Airlines is a start-up airline that plans tooperate full charter services on behalf of tour operators usingBoeing 757s formerly operated by Turkey’s Atlasjet.


New York-based Eos beganlife in October 2005.


NEWCOMERS

HANSEFLUGBASE: Hanover

Hanseflug is a German start-up carrier with head offices in the city ofHanover.

LAC AIR CONGOBASE: Kinshasa

LAC Air Congo (ex Air Congo - ex Air Zaire) has resumed flights afteryears of inactivity. The first flight in August connected Kinshasa withKisangani and Bunia. The company is expecting to put additionalaircraft into service and to cover more destinations, initially domes-tic ones, but later on some international or intercontinental destina-tions. LAC will have a Boeing 767 available later this month.

PTL AIRLINESBASE: Poland and Czech Republic

PTL Airlines is planning to launch operations in December 2006.The carrier intends to serve both domestic and international routesusing four aircraft. PTL Airlines is currently finalising the acquisi-tion of its air operator’s certificate. It plans to offer a point to pointregional business service in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic,

Germany, Italy and Poland. It is the owner/operator of Saab aircraftand other ACMI aircraft for charter. In 2007-8 it plans to extendscheduled services to Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania, andcharters between North America, Israel and Dubai and Montenegro.

Cargo services are set to start in 2008.

RAK AIRWAYSBASE: Ras al-Khaimah, UAE.

RAK Airways is a start-up airline planning to launch in 2007 servingdestinations in the Indian sub-continent, Gulf Co-operation Council(GCC) states, Lebanon, Europe and Africa. The carrier has been estab-lished through an Emiri decree as a national carrier for Ras Al Khaimah.

STAR AIR AVIATIONBASE: : Karachi, Pakistan

Star Air Aviation (Private), is a local operator from Pakistan whichhas AOC and charter licences for domestic and international opera-tions from Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. Star Air is engaged incommercial cargo operations on scheduled domestic (night) opera-tions and also conducts day charter flights as and when inquiries arereceived from the market. Star Air currently operates four freighteraircraft on wet lease. These aircraft are parked during day time atLahore / Islamabad / Multan and Karachi Airport and are availableto perform immediate day charter flights at short notice.


THE FLEDGLING MIDDLE EASTERNlow-cost market is poised for a periodof major growth, led by Air Arabia andseveral potential-start-ups.

Sharjah-based Air Arabia, whichbecame the first low-cost carrier in theMiddle East when it launched servicesin 2003, expects rapid growth over thenext few years as governments in theregion begin opening their skies to newcarriers.

“We’ve seen huge shifts in the atti-tudes of authorities,” says chief execu-tive Adel Ali. “I think it will be anotheryear or two before everything opensup.”

Air Arabia now serves 27 destina-tions with 140 weekly flights usingseven Airbus A320s. But it is fully util-ising all the route authorities it hassecured and is unable to serve several

Middle Eastern countries includingJordan and Saudi Arabia. All the coun-tries in the region also prohibit fifth-freedom flights, restricting Air Arabiato routes from its Sharjah hub.

“If we have Arab open skies, we’llgrow four to five times from what weare today,” Ali says.

To support growth from its largestcarrier, Sharjah airport will be expand-ed and renovated. Ali says Air Arabiaplans to stay in Sharjah rather thanmove to nearby Dubai because “it isclose enough and it is not as congest-ed”.

Last year Air Arabia was joined byKuwait’s Jazeera Airways, which isnow the only other low-cost operatorin the region. But several new low-costcarriers are preparing to launch servic-es in Saudi Arabia by early next year

(see story page 5) and Ali expects newlow-cost competitors will also emergein Egypt, Air Arabia’s largest destina-tion.

Ali says Saudi Arabia initially is onlyopening its domestic market to newSaudi operators but eventually restric-tions will also be lifted on internation-al routes. The Saudi Arabian domesticmarket has the biggest potential in theMiddle East because it accounts for70% of the region’s population and iscurrently underserved, according tothe chief executive of Saudi proposedlow-cost carrier Sama, Andrew Cowen.

“Saudi Arabia badly needs some low-cost competitors,” Cowen says. “Theopportunity in Saudi Arabia is tremen-dous. From my standpoint, it’s thebiggest airline opportunity in theworld.”

Sharjah carrier predicts great growth ahead

LOW COST CONFERENCE

Brendan Sobie reports from the World Low Cost Airline Congress, London on the eve of Routes, Dubai

“If we have

Arab open

skies, we’ll

grow four to

five times

from what

we are

today”

Adel AliChief ExecutiveAir Arabia

South Africa’s Kulula aims to expand its network to sec-ondary cities using turboprops that would be operated bya new regional subsidiary or partner.

Kulula chief executive Gidon Novick says it consideringacquiring SA Express or hiring another South Africanregional carrier to operate 50 to 70-seat turboprops on itsbehalf. Kulula seeks turboprops to launch services todomestic destinations that do not have enough traffic tosupport narrowbody aircraft but present opportunitiesbecause of limited competition and high fares.

“In terms of our route network it’s a challenge. We’re atthe tip of Africa so we can’t fly south, east or west,” Novicksays. “We’ve tried smaller routes but they are just too smallfor our Boeings. We are looking at different types of air-craft, especially turboprops.”

Africa’s first and only low-cost carrier currently operatesa 16-aircraft fleet consisting of Boeing 737-200s, 737-400sand MD-80s. Novick says Kulula’s first priority is to replaceits remaining 737-200s and MD-80s with more 737-400sor similar-sized Airbus or Boeing aircraft. He says it willthen focus on acquiring smaller and larger aircraft, withATR 42/72 and Bombardier Dash 8s under considerationfor the former requirement and Boeing 757s or 737-900Xsunder consideration for the latter requirement.

Kulula, which is owned by British Airways South Africanpartner Comair, is not interested in operating turbopropson its own. SA Express already operates a fleet of 13 turbo-props and regional jets for South African Airways on sev-eral of the routes Kulula is eyeing but Novick says its highcost base would have to be restructured if it was acquiredby Kulula. If Kulula does not succeed in buying SA Expressfrom the South African government its planned fleet ofturboprops will be operated by one of a few South Africancarriers that already operate 19 to 50-seat turboprops.

Kulula aims for expansion

Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air isexpanding its fleet from five to eightaircraft in October as it looks to fur-ther bolster its domestic market shareahead of the launch of internationalservices.

Nok chief executive Patee Sarasinsays two additional Boeing 737-400swill be used to launch services fromBangkok to Krabi and Sarat Thani,giving it 11 domestic destinations. Itwill also take delivery next month ofa second ATR 72, to be used mainly asa spare aircraft.

“After seven [737] aircraft Thailandwill be saturated from our point ofview. Then we’ll be moving interna-tionally,” Patee says.

He says Nok plans to launch servic-

es to its first international destina-tion, Bangalore in India, in January.Services to Chennai and Hyderabad,also in India, will follow later in 2007.

Nok launched in 2004 and alreadyenjoys about 20% of the Thai domes-tic market. Patee expects Nok’s mar-ket share will grow further next yearas its part-owner, Thai AirwaysInternational, withdraws from alldomestic routes except Bangkok-Chang Mai and Bangkok-Phuket. Buthe also expects growth fromThailand’s other two low-cost carriers,One-Two-Go and Thai AirAsia, whichhave similar shares of the Thaidomestic market. “My objective is notto compete with others but to com-pete with ourselves,” he says.

Nok opens door on international routes


INTERVIEW

Factfile: Robert Milton

The concept of wealth built on energy resources is a familiar story inthe Middle East but one carrier, here at Routes, believes access tothe energy world will help take it to the next level too.

ROBERT MILTON, THE chairman and chief executiveof Air Canada parent, ACEHoldings, says the airline’sroute strategy relies on keeping

its hub airports well fed and nourished. On the surface, that would be a challenge

since the airline has three major hubs across thenation, two of them, Toronto and Montréal,straddling Canada’s major population and busi-ness centres and one of them oriented east-ward: Vancouver. But Milton and the airline arebenefiting from the larger world economicforces: the Asia-Pacific trade boom and perhapsironically from the world's global energy crisis.

Canada sits close on the Pacific Rim and asimportantly sits on some of the globe's mostsought-after natural resources: energy. It is theenergy boom that is making the westernprovinces into boomlets.

Pick up any Canadian newspaper or tuneinto any Canadian broadcaster and the news isabout the billions of dollars in investmentpouring in to exploration and production inthe plains of the west.

Oil drilling, oil-sands extraction and naturalgas development mean business travellers and,as importantly, workers to staff the projects.

Because many oil and gas workers have beenrecruited from the nation’s Maritime east, inparticular Newfoundland, where unemploy-ment has been chronic, a new travel patternhas emerged as workers fly monthly or evenweekly between their homes on the rockyAtlantic coast and their work in the oil-richwest. This has given the airline an opportunityto exploit a product that Milton is reallypleased with: its multi-pass products. The pass-es are ideal, Milton says, explaining: “The air-line gets cash in advance and also gets a prettygood idea of how much traffic it is going to begetting on specific routes, while the customergets a healthy discount and some real serviceadvantages”.

The energy boom has also given Air Canadaenough traffic to justify a route that wouldhave been economically unviable just a fewyears ago: direct service between Edmonton, inthe northern part of Alberta, and LondonHeathrow. The non-stop Boeing 767 flights

Milton’s Paradise

will operate three days a week, starting 31October and will go daily next April.

Edmonton is closer to some of the energyoperations than the province’s other mainpoint, Calgary, which is an Air Canada mini-hub. And so Edmonton has enjoyed moregrowth than it might otherwise have, withnine new services this year, including theLondon service, plus nonstops to Las Vegas;Los Angeles; Montreal; and several warmweather spots including Las Vegas; Cancun;Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and threewestern Canada destinations (Yellowknife,Victoria, and Kelowna).

And the airline is poised to exploit a marketopening that presented itself about a monthafter Milton spoke with Airline Business in theMontréal headquarters of Air Canada’s parent,ACE Aviation Holdings: the demise of CanJet.Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanJet halted allscheduled flights on its 10 Boeing 737s in earlySeptember, and Air Canada and its Jazz region-al affiliate will add daily flights on four routesthis month, with some extra capacity possiblein November as the demand situation clarifies.

Another boon to Air Canada is the advent ofincreased open skies with the US. Although fullimplementation of a deal set for 1 Septemberhas been delayed, Air Canada and indeed itslow-fare rival WestJet are beefing up US service,in particular flights to warm weather spotssuch as Las Vegas, Palm Springs, and FortLauderdale.

Milton, like top management at most otherairlines, loathes restraints on where to fly, lim-its on who it can invest in it and a dependenceon what Milton calls “natural and abusivemonopolies such as airports.” It was his interestin fighting these barriers that led him to accepta somewhat surprising invitation from IATAdirector general Giovanni Bisignani to chair theassociation’s board of governors for 2005-6.That term expired in May, but Milton will notend his often sharply worded advocacy for theissues he believes the industry needs to address.

He says: “We have to work together to gettraction on these issues. We may not be able toreverse some of the mistakes that we now haveto deal with but maybe we can keep somethingstupid from getting started.”

REGAINED

Robert Milton, 47, grew up in the USA, UK,Singapore, Belgium and Hong Kong as hisfather, an international banker, movedaround the world.

He remembers when he first “gothooked”– on a flight from the New York Cityarea to St Louis in an executive jet. “They letme up in the flightdeck, and that did it,” hesays.

Milton graduated in 1983 from Atlanta’sGeorgia Tech with a degree in industrialmanagement and a gift from his father tobuy a new car. He used the money instead tostart an air courier dubbed MidnightExpress, which he sold to Piedmont Aviation.

In 1993 he become a full-time Air Canadaemployee, rising through the ranks until in2000 he led the purchase of rival CanadianAirlines International, while fending off ahostile takeover attempt.

In 2003 he put Air Canada in reorganisa-tion under CCAA, the Canadian version ofChapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A yearlater he brought Air Canada out in the formof ACE Aviation Holdings. He sold stakes inAeroplan and Jazz and in August announcedplans to sell a stake in Air Canada itself. Thesale of its services unit is also on the cards.

Milton is married with two children.

Data-downloadSTAT ATTACK

TOP ROUTES BY SEATS OFFERED

RANK AIRPORT 1 AIRPORT 2 SEATS LEAD CARRIERSNAME CODE NAME CODE PER WEEK CARRIER 1 CARRIER 2

1 Barcelona BCN Madrid MAD 148,627 Iberia Spanair2 London Heathrow LHR New York JFK JFK 83,846 British Airways American Airlines3 Rome Fiumicino FCO Milan Linate LIN 82,420 Alitalia Air One4 Paris Orly ORY Toulouse TLS 62,012 Air France EasyJet5 Paris Orly ORY Nice NCE 57,084 Air France EasyJet6 London Heathrow LHR Paris CDG CDG 54,766 Air France British Airways7 Oslo Gardermoen OSL Bergen BGO 54,471 SAS Braathens Norwegian8 London Heathrow LHR Amsterdam AMS 53,620 KLM British Airways9 Oslo Gardermoen OSL Trondheim TRD 51,367 SAS Braathens Norwegian10 London Heathrow LHR Dublin DUB 50,958 Aer Lingus bmi


1 Honolulu HNL Kahului OGG 71,937 Hawaiian Airlines Aloha 2 Chicago O'Hare ORD New York LaGuardia LGA 67,518 American Airlines United Airlines3 Los Angeles LAX Las Vegas LAS 63,953 Southwest Airlines America West4 Las Vegas LAS Phoenix PHX 62,658 Southwest Airlines America West5 Toronto Pearson YYZ Montreal Trudeau YUL 60,905 Air Canada WestJet 6 Atlanta ATL New York LaGuardia LGA 60,190 Delta Air Lines AirTran Airways7 Los Angeles LAX San Francisco SFO 59,918 United Airlines American Airlines8 Atlanta ATL Orlando Int'l MCO 59,357 Delta Air Lines AirTran Airways9 Lihue Municipal LIH Honolulu HNL 59,205 Hawaiian Airlines Aloha 10 Atlanta ATL Dallas Fort Worth DFW 58,254 Delta Air Lines American Airlines


1 Tokyo Haneda HND Sapporo Chitose CTS 229,676 All Nippon Airways Japan Airlines2 Tokyo Haneda HND Fukuoka FUK 194,656 Japan Airlines All Nippon Airways3 Hong Kong HKG Tapei CKS TPE 181,304 Cathay Pacific China Airlines4 Tokyo Haneda HND Osaka Itami ITM 153,356 All Nippon Airways Japan Airlines5 Seoul Gimpo GMP Jeju CJU 132,719 Korean Air Asiana 6 Beijing PEK Shanghai Hongqiao SHA 107,916 Air China China Eastern 7 Hong Kong HKG Shanghai Pudong PVG 97,572 Dragonair China Eastern 8 Bangkok BKK Chiang Mai CNX 93,123 Thai Airways Nok Air9 Tokyo Haneda HND Okinawa Naha OKA 87,724 Japan Airlines All Nippon Airways10 Mumbai BOM Delhi DEL 85,220 Jet Airways Indian Airlines

Europe

North America

Asia-Pacific



■ TOURISM:Department of Tourism andCommerce Marketing (DTCM)Welcome Bureau✆ 228 5000E-mail:[email protected]:www.dubaitourism.co.ae

■ EMERGENCY:✆ Police: 999Fire: 997Ambulance: 998/999Coastguards: 345 0520

■ PHARMACIES:Most pharmacies are open from9am to 9pm and many can befound at leading supermarkets.

Check local newspapers for 24-hour pharmacies.

■ LOST OR STOLEN ITEMS:You must report any lost orstolen items to Dubai Police.The Police operator can be con-tacted on 269 2222 or fax: 2215158

■ POST OFFICES:Post Offices are open Saturdayto Thursday 8am – 8pm.However stamps are generallyavailable from most supermar-kets and grocery shops.

■ HOSPITALS: The followinghospitals can treat all mannerof emergencies:

Al Amal Hospital✆ 344 4010Al Baraha Hospital✆ 271 0000Al Maktoum Hospital✆ 222 1211Al Wasl Hospital✆ 324 1111American Hospital✆ 336 7777Belhoul European Hospital✆ 345 4000Dubai Hospital✆ 271 4444International Private Hospital✆ 221 2484Iranian Hospital✆ 344 0250Rashid Hospital✆ 337 4000

Welcare Hospital✆ 282 7788

■ TAXIS:Dubai Transport Corporation✆ 264 1111Cars Taxi✆ 800 4825Dubai Taxi✆ 208 0808Golden Taxi✆ 336 5444Gulf Radio Taxi✆ 223 6666

■ FLIGHT ENQUIRES:Dubai International Airport✆ 224 5777To call these numbers from overseas place

+9714 in front of the number

US

EF

UL

IN

FO

ALL YOU NEED: here are some useful telephone numbers to help smooth over your visit to Routes in Dubai.

afterhoursTHINGS TO DO IN DUBAI IN YOUR DOWNTIME

A shopping paradiseSHOPPING IS UNDOUBTEDLYone of Dubai’s greatest drawsand it’s not without reason thatthe city is often regarded as the‘shopping capital of the East’.

The unrivalled collection ofgoods and low import dutiesmake Dubai a shoppers’ paradise

Depending on what you’reafter, there are two kinds ofshopping experience to choosefrom: Browse in one of themany malls across the city, orwander around the souks (mar-ketplaces) with their sights andsounds reminiscent of anothertime.

Although the seasonal DubaiShopping Festival and DubaiSummer Surprises are the twobiggest attractions, special pro-motions tend to run throughthe year.

Deira City Mall, with 1.2 mil-lion square feet of unadulteratedretail space, is one of the city’smost popular malls, housingmore then 280 stores. Amongother popular malls are Mercato,a unique renaissance-themed

mall located in Jumeirah, andWafi City Mall, which is widelyregarded as Dubai’s most elegantshopping complex… and ofcourse the new Mall of theEmirates where you can enjoy abit of downhill skiing on realsnow when the shopping gets abit too much.

The best-value items in mallstend to be electrical goods anddesigner labels.

There are plenty of local mar-kets, and though much haschanged since their heyday,souks still have plenty worthhaggling over, from spices andsilks to electronics and gold.Shops selling the same or similargoods cluster together, so thespice souk, for example is a feastfor all the senses and quite atourist attraction, while MeenaBazaar is the place all the taxidrivers will take you to if you askfor the textile souk.

The buzzing gold souk onSikkat al-Khali Street offers somegreat deals on gold, with pricesamong the lowest in the world.

The gold souks are also strictlyregulated, so there is littlechance of customers beingripped off in terms of quality,although prices do vary and bar-gaining is essential.

If you fancy another variety offishing make sure you get awhiff of the fish souk, whereeach morning fishermen unloadvast amounts of fresh fish.

One thing for sure is thatwherever you go, it’s hard toleave Dubai empty handed.

BRINGING YOU THE NEWS FROM ROUTES DUBAI NETWORKING FORUM – DAY ONE: SUNDAY 17 SEPTEMBER

Dubai2006

One Routes exhibitor uses theannual event as a milestone tojudge its growth, and here, in oneof the fastest growing cities in theworld it is appropriate that Sabre’sairport consulting practice is find-ing itself as one of the fastest grow-ing consulting services in the indus-try.

In 2003 at Routes Edinburgh, itaccounted for only a handful ofinternational clients, and less than3% of its total consulting revenues.

The practice now comes to Dubaifollowing a series of acquisitions,partnerships, and a greater corpo-rate focus on the airport industry, asone of the largest and fastest grow-ing airport consulting serviceproviders in the industry. And itsays, there is more in the pipeline.

Some 120 airports across theglobe currently work with Sabre’sairport consulting business rangingfrom regional airports such asGroeningen in the Netherlands,through to a wide range of globalcarrier hubs including Dallas/FortWorth, and Singapore’s Changi.

Of those 120 clients, Sabre saysthat 65 were new first time clientsin 2005.

In the early years, Sabre offeredalmost exclusively market informa-

tion services but has expanded itsofferings to include comprehensivecommercial and air-service develop-ment solutions, and has recentlyexpanded further into more opera-tions and cargo related areas.

It has also begun investing innew market analysis related prod-ucts attempting to capitalise on itsposition as the industry’s largestMIDT provider.

This includes the launch of theSabre ADI online data service. Thiscomprehensive traffic, schedule andcapacity data tool has alreadyproven popular with more than 35airports, airport management com-panies, and government agenciescontracted onto the service withinits first eight months of operation.

Speaking at the build–up toRoutes, Damian Brooke, Sabre’sPartner responsible for theInternational Airport andGovernment practice says “We trulybelieve that going forward, Sabre isthe best positioned of all of the air-port consulting service providers,through its combination of experi-enced consultants, and direct accessto industry-leading analysis andtechnology solutions.

“We have the distinct advantageof being able to provide our clients

with solutions generated from thesame systems which are being pro-vided to the airlines by the product-arm of Sabre, with methodologieswhich the airlines already under-stand.

“For example, we have the abilityto provide our air-service develop-ment airport clients solutions usingthe same forecasting tools that theirtarget airlines are using. This hasled to the airlines having a greatercomfort level with the analysisbeing presented by our clients. Notmany competitors are able to offerthat level of comfort”

Brooke says that Sabre expects tocontinue its growth over the nextfew years, through internal andexternal strategic initiatives, as wellas through continuing to expand itsservice offerings.

“We opened our first internation-al office dedicated to airport con-sulting in Australia in August of2005, and that has resulted in overa dozen new Asian clients in thepast 12 months. We will be open-ing a European office immediatelyafter Routes Dubai, and we expectto continue the same and greaterlevels of growth to occur in Europeand the Middle East over the sameperiod,” he said.

Sabre now atthe cutting edge

“We have the

distinct

advantage of

being able to

provide our

clients with

solutions

generated from

the same

systems which

are being

provided to the

airlines by the

product-arm of

Sabre, with

methodologies

which the

airlines already

understand.Alas

tair Robertson

KIA.”

Damian Brooke,Sabre’s Partnerresponsible forthe InternationalAirport

“We opened our first international office dedicated to airport consulting in Australia inAugust of 2005, and that has resulted in over a dozen new Asian clients in the past 12months. We will be opening a European office immediately after Routes Dubai, and weexpect to continue the same and greater levels of growth to occur in Europe and theMiddle East over the same period.”

ab routes day one - cirium

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