Transport

Abu Dhabi shortlists five for $2.7 bln road project

Abu Dhabi has shortlisted groups including Italy's Impregilo SpA, China Harbour Engineering Co. and MTD Capital Bhd of Malaysia for a road project worth $2.7 billion. Consolidated Contractors Co of Greece and Macquarie Capital Group Ltd of Australia were also among the five consortia shortlisted for the contract to build a 327-kilometer (203.2 mile) highway from the Gulf Arab emirate to Saudi Arabia, which will cost 10 billion dirhams ($2.72 billion), the department said..

Dubai's second airport faces delay

Dubai pushed back the opening of the first phase of the worlds biggest airport because of delays in construction, the head of Dubai Airports said. Dubai World Central will open in 2010 instead of this year due to "a number of factors mostly relating to the readiness of infrastructure and the capability of Dubai International to more than cope with existing traffic," Dubai Airports Chief Executive Officer Paul Griffiths said in a phone interview. There is no "pressing hurry" to open the facility, being built 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the existing Dubai International at a cost of $33 billion, according to Griffiths. The airport will be 10 times the size of its existing facility when fully complete.

Al-Rajhi bags SR6.79 billion rail contract

The Al-Rajhi consortium has won the SR6.79 billion contract for the civil works of the Haramain Railway project linking the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry said the Makkah-Madinah Rail Link project with high-speed trains would be an ideal solution to transportation problems faced by millions of pilgrims each year. The expected journey time on the proposed 300 km per hour bullet trains would be half an hour between Makkah and Jeddah, and two hours between Madinah and Jeddah. The 450 km MMRL project will be fully electric-run and equipped with the latest signaling and communications systems. The contract awarded is for undertaking the civil works, the first part for laying rail lines from Makkah to Madinah passing through Jeddah city and King Abdul Aziz International Airport. The stations will be built in the second part of the first phase and will be completed in three years from the date of signing the contract, according to a Saudi rail official.<

Six Firms Shortlisted for Oman Airport Project

Oman has shortlisted six firms including global construction company Bechtel, France’s Vinci and India’s Larsen & Toubro for a deal to build a $1.4 billion airport terminal, a tender board official said. Saudi Binladen Group, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) and Joannou & Paraskevaides from Cyprus, were also prequalified for the Muscat airport deal. Passenger traffic through Muscat airport, excluding those in transit, increased to about 3.2 million in 2008.

Arab airlines seen losing $200m in 2009

The world’s airline cartel, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), expects Arab airline companies to incur losses totalling up to $200 million during this year, as a result of plummeting aviation traffic hand-in-hand with the global financial crisis. The IATA called upon governments, air navigation and airline companies in the region to improve their service efficiency levels in order to sustain growth for the Middle East aviation sector in the long term. The Middle East accounted for 10 per cent of global aviation activity over the last seven years, according to the IATA.

NoozzVIEW; Qatar Airways aims high

Qatar Airways, one of only six in the world granted a 5-star rating by Skytrax, is confident of bucking the international trend suffered by many flag carriers around the world and report considerable growth in both destinations and passengers during 2009 despite the global financial crisis that has hit the industry hard. Predictions that are the envy of many of its competitors, even in the oil-rich Gulf region ,show 30-35 per cent growth in passengers during the year ahead over the 12 million that flew with the airline in 2008. It will begin flying to Houston in Texas in March and is claimed to be on track to achieve its stated goal of at least 120 destinations by 2012 after the Houston flights have begun.

Shipping industry set to bounce back in 2010

The region's shipping industry volumes suffered a drop in growth in 2008, but forecasts say a quick rebound is expected next year. Container traffic from Asia to North America saw a decline of 5.7 per cent in 2008. This year, a lesser impact of the crisis is expected with a decline of 3.2 per cent. A sharp rise to a growth of 7.3 per cent will follow in 2010, according to Drewry Shipping Consultants. It forecasts a seven per cent growth in container port volumes in the region for the next two years, with possibilities of less optimistic numbers. Neil Davidson, director of ports at Drewry Shipping Consultants said, "There is a danger of getting pre-occupied by the short term," adding that as ports are a long-term, the prospects "look good".