UAE
deal, became CEO in 2008. Qantas is not the only airline affected by the maintenance programme, of course, and it is possible that some traffic may move to Al Maktoum International during that period.
FlyDubai Meanwhile, the state-owned carrier flydubai has worked itself into a position of profitability in its third year of existence and has also established a place for itself as the second-largest carrier in Dubai International by number of passengers. Although it has carved out a set of niche routes, such as Juba, South Sudan, which is not served by Emirates, there are other places where the two airlines compete. The airline carried 5.1m passengers in 2012 and has become an early adherent of the move by a few carriers in that segment to establish business-class facilities and vary the standard lowcost carrier offer. It also showed its confidence at the 2013 Dubai Airshow by placing an order for 75 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 11 Next-Generation 737-800 aircraft, while retaining purchase rights for a further 25 737 MAX aircraft.
Aircraft Sales The 2013 Dubai Airshow hit the headlines because of the record-breaking orders announced at the event. Boeing’s 777X was launched there with what was said to be the fattest order book ever produced to support a new aircraft. The vast majority of those had been sold to Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways. Altogether the world’s aircraft manufacturers rang up orders worth more than $200bn at list prices (see analysis).
Bargain Jet Beechcraft, the US manufacturer of private jets, discovered from its research that just under 20% of the light and medium-sized jets in Europe – 1440 planes – are on sale. The company, which makes the Beechcraft King Air 350i and the Baron G58, maintained that when more than 10% of private jets are for sale at any one time, it is definitely a buyers’ market. However, that does not
Aviation is not the only sector that is expecting a period of rapid development. The Dubai Metro mass transit system is heading for an expansion programme that will make it available to tens of thousands of people that so far have been outside its orbit universally affect every part of the market. The top end, in which private jets can cost at least $25m, is untouched. Nine out of 10 times, companies or individuals buying jets at the top end of the market use their balance sheet or a “big pile of cash”, according to Richard Aboulafia, vice-president of analysis at aerospace consultants Teal Group. Light to medium-sized jets are a whole other story. Aboulafia attributed a drop in other markets to lagging credit lines.“What was the number one defining characteristic of this recession? It’s the collapse of commercial credit as lenders seek safety in the form of US government bonds. … It used to be that you could get a loan for 90% of the value or something like that,” said Aboulafia. Now it might be 60%. There is no relief in the Middle East and other emerging markets, as ultra-highnet-worth individuals and companies tend to favour bigger jets, he added.
New Stations The 75 km of Dubai’s Metro is to get a 50% expansion over the next few years to take its total length to 111 km. Apart from lengthening the Red Line by 3.5 km and the Green Line by 20 km, a new spur will be built connecting the Red Line along Sheikh Zayed Road to the Expo 2020 site near Al Maktoum Airport. The Red Line extension will run from Rashidiya to Mirdif, while that of the Green Line will connect Al Jaddaf to Academic City.
Although the World Expo 2020 is not the primary reason for either of the schemes, both should nevertheless be complete by 2020 and doubly useful as Dubai anticipates 20m regular tourists and the first of 25m Expo visitors that year. And neither of those two figures include the estimated expected increase in residents as Dubai’s population is forecast to grow to around 3m by 2020. The present network has 75 km and 47 stations. It was opened in September 2009. By the scheduled completion time of the entire network in 2030, it will have 421 km of track with just under 200 stations. The Red Line extension will serve communities such as Shurooq and Ghuroob in Mirdif, although the longer Green Line extension will be more significant in terms of gaining additional passengers. It will run through the Ras Al Khor Industrial Area and the heavily populated areas of International City, Silicon Oasis and Academic City (see analysis).
Trams The first trams ordered from Alstom in France arrived in Dubai in December 2013 for testing ahead of their introduction into the Dubai Marina area. Although the network is scheduled to have 15 km of track upon completion, phase one will be confined to the 10.6 km from Dubai Marina to the Tram Depot near Dubai Police Academy and is set to begin operations in November 2014 with 11 stations. When fully operational the network will be served by 25 trams and connect with certain metro stations via footbridges in Marina Mall and Jumeirah Lakes Tower (see analysis).
Rail A new law on railway development and safety regulations is expected to be passed in 2014 covering various aspects of the $25bn programme to develop a rail network in the UAE. The law will address safety regulation and operational standards and may include provisions that make it easier for foreign companies to invest in the project. The amount of money anticipated for the UAE’s GSC YEARBOOK 2015 59