Transport

Riyadh plans mass transit system

Increasingly traffic-choked Riyadh is planning to build a monorail mass transit system, the capital's governor said in January. Routes, detailed designs and engineering for a 42-kilometer (26-mile) light monorail on two lines are ready and awaiting budget allocation, Prince Salman bin Adbul Aziz said in a report on infrastructure development. "The planning commission has completed design and engineering specifications and implementation plans for the train and a comprehensive plan for bus transportation in preparation for launching the projects upon adoption of the necessary budget," said the report released by the state SPA news agency. The metro will include a 25-kilometer (16-mile) roughly north-south line through the busy Batha shopping area in the heart of the old city and a 17-kilometer (10-mile) roughly east-west line in the newer north where a financial hub is under construction.

BAG eyeing huge aviation opportunities in Oman

The British Aviation Group (BAG) is looking to participate in a major way towards expansion and development of the civil aviation sector in Oman, its chairman said after meeting the Sultanate's commerce minister, Maqbool bin Ali bin Sultan. The BAG led a 16-member UK trade mission to the Sultanate in January and would look at opportunities in all areas of aviation except for manufacturing of the aircraft itself or its engines, Alan Lamond said. The BAG members have been involved in airport financing, master planning, design, construction, equipment supply and operations. The first phase of the expansion plan for the Muscat International Airport is expected to be completed by 2012 to increase the airport's handling capacity to 12 million passengers. Thereafter, the capacity would be enhanced in three phases to 48 million passengers by 2050, as per information provided on the Web site of Oman Airports Management Company. The proposed expansion of the Salalah Airport would increase its capacity to one million passengers by 2012, it said.

Oman: Aviation lift-off

Following a tough economic year for the region, welcome news came from the aviation industry, which witnessed flag-carrier Oman Air closing 2009 with successful growth figures. The airline reported a 17 per cent increase in passenger numbers and a 67 per cent increase in revenue for its cargo division, demonstrating its growth strategy has retained resilience despite a poor year globally for the sector. The good news was further augmented by an announcement at a general meeting held by the company that the government had increased its operating capital six-fold, from RO50 million (US$129.8 million) to 300 million (US$779.1 million). In all, passenger numbers for the airline rose from 1.98 million to 2.33 million last year, as the company introduced an additional 8 aircraft to bring its fleet to 21. Among the new entrants were Oman Air's first A330s, enabling the Sultanate to expand its range, with the addition of several new routes to destinations such as Frankfurt, Munich and Paris. The airline now serves a total of 32 destinations worldwide, with other recent additions including the Maldives and Sri Lanka, both added in October 2009. (Source: OBG)

Qatar firms and Airbus gear up to develop bio jet fuel

Qatar Airways has joined hands with Qatar Science and Technology Park and Qatar Petroleum to develop a new alternative fuel - BTL (biomass-to-liquid) - with the support of Airbus. The move comes close on the heels of the Doha-based carrier conducting the world's first commercial flight powered by a GTL (gas-to-liquid) fuel blend in October 2009. Qatar Airways said it is in the process of carrying out engineering, economic analysis and move into the development of sustainable bio jet fuel that will also look into ways for production and supply. It further said that it recently embarked on a feasibility study on sustainable BTL jet fuel and possible by-products such as bio diesel. "The BTL will first to be used in our airlines, and then it will be expanded to use globally as the supply of this fuel increases," said Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive of Qatar Airways. It is the next phase of alternative fuels as the airline is continuing to further develop alternative fuels, he said.

Lufthansa first leading European airline to Iraq

As Iraq is increasingly opening up to civil aviation, demand for flights to the country is growing. Lufthansa is therefore examining the possibility of launching several new services to Iraq and is currently planning to serve the capital, Baghdad, and the city of Erbil in Northern Iraq via Frankfurt and Munich. Lufthansa aims to launch the new services in the summer of 2010, once it has obtained the necessary traffic rights. Further infrastructure requirements are also being examined. With the resumption of flights to Iraq, Lufthansa is pursuing its policy of expanding its route network in the Middle East, which it presently serves with 88 flights per week to 14 destinations in eleven countries.

Gulf Air downsizes its fleet

Gulf Air has sold two of its Airbus A340s as part of its fleet overhaul strategy. The aircraft have been passed on to an affiliate of Apollo Aviation Group in Florida, USA. In a statement, the airline said the sale “was an important step in realizing Gulf Air's fleet realignment strategy to create a profitable and sustainable national carrier for Bahrain”. At 16 years of age, the A340-300s were the two oldest aircraft in Gulf Air’s fleet and had been previously withdrawn from service. The sale is said to have saved Gulf Air some US$25 million in servicing costs. “These capital expenditures were not in line with the company’s fleet realignment strategy,” the statement went on to say. Gulf Air has pledged to become a profitable and sustainable airline by 2012.

UAE likely to sign ten open sky deals in 2010

The UAE is planning to sign open sky agreements with at least 10 countries in 2010, a top official of General Civil Aviation Authority, or GCCA, said. "We are scheduled to have bilateral meetings with 25 countries to explore the possibilities of signing open sky agreements in 2010 , and we hope we will be able to conclude such agreements with at least 10 countries,'' Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director-General of GCCA said. "We have already signed open sky agreements with about 45 countries in the Mena region and with some in Europe, North America and Asia. We are willing to sign open sky agreement with any country that is willing to reciprocate. Recently we signed such a deal with Sri Lanka," he said. "We will be signing open sky agreements with Australia and Nepal in the first quarter of 2010. Talks are in progress with India and Pakistan also to work out an open sky agreement with them at the earliest,'' Al Suwaidi said. The GCCA official said that the UAE was in discussions with the European Union to have a horizontal agreement on open sky policies instead of talking to individual member countries of the Union.

Qatar budgets US$20bn for roads over next five years

Qatar, the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, has set aside US$20 billion for road construction over the next five years, a public works official. "The budget for the next five years is US$20 billion," Jamal Shareeda Al-Kaabi, acting manager of design department, roads and drainage in the Public Works authority said at a conference organized by London-based MEED magazine. "We are tendering two projects…” Among the projects underway in the Gulf Arab state is the North Road, a 100-kilometer stretch of highway that includes 22 bridges and connects to the planned Qatar-Bahrain causeway.

Dubai World unit wins vessel building contract

A subsidiary of Dubai-based Drydocks World said it signed a contract to build a large offshore construction vessel for Scottish Highland International Inc, part of Coastline Maritime. Southeast Asia Pte Ltd, which operates four shipyards in Singapore and Indonesia's Batam Island and has fourteen offshore supply vessels under construction, will build a 210-metre ultra large offshore construction vessel, Drydocks said in a statement. Drydocks World is part of troubled Dubai conglomerate Dubai World, but is not included in its parent company's US$22 billion restructuring plans. The new vessel will be larger than the company's previous two - one still under construction and another delivered in April and operating in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chinese investors to target distressed Dubai real estate

A group of Chinese investors are due to arrive in Dubai next month with the aim of taking advantage of distressed properties currently available in the market, according to media reports posted on the Chinese Ministry of Commerce official website. The group of twenty investors from the Zhejiang province in eastern China plan to make the trip towards the end of February. "When they learned of such an opportunity to visit Dubai, more than twenty members expressed an interest in joining the visiting group," Zhou Dewen, head of the Wenzhou SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) Business Development and Promotion Association, told the English-language China Daily newspaper.

GCC to invest in transport

The six Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are planning to invest nearly US$109 billion (Dh400 billion) on rail projects and almost US$11 billion on road expansion projects during the next nine years as a way to combat traffic congestion. The report by the Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz), an investment banking institution, added highway projects worth nearly US$3.8 billion had been cancelled due to the recession out of US$14.5 billion worth of projects. "I don't think it looks too big to be true," M.R. Raghu, co-author of the report and head of research at Markaz said.

Kuwaiti firm offers to build US$1.2bn airport at Clark

A Kuwaiti firm has offered to build a US$1.2-billion airport at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga, which is hoped to jump-start the development of the former United States military base into the country’s premier international gateway. Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and chief executive officer Victor Luciano confirmed reports that Kuwait’s Al-Mal Investment Co. had submitted a proposal to build a new airport north of Manila. “We are now evaluating that proposal,” Luciano said. Al-Mal, owned by MA Kharafi and Sons, one of Kuwait’s largest conglomerates, submitted the proposal on December 24. “Al-Mal has committed to develop all civil components of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport Terminals 1, 2, and 3 as well as the adjacent land of 1,500 hectares following the original plan at a total investment value of US$1.2 billion,” CIAC chairman Nestor Mangio said in a statement.

Gulf aims for single aviation market

The president of the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said the Gulf Cooperation Council plans to establish a single aviation market in the region to ensure better quality of service and the highest level of safety, Gulf News has reported. 'GCC with governments, military and security are working together to create a single open sky in the Gulf which enable GCC carriers to operate freely between cities without any commercial restrictions including restrictions on route, the number of flights and the setting of fares,' Abdullah Al Rumaihi said.

US$196m fresh road to facelift northeastern Arbil

A sum of 231.280 billion Iraqi dinars (US$196 million) was appropriated to build a road serving the local residents and refreshing tourism in northeastern Arbil, according to Governor Nawzad Hadi. "The Kori-Shaqlawa-Qandil highway in northeastern Arbil will be opened and paved by a Turkish company and would be financed from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reconstruction & development ministry's budget," Hadi told reporters. "The current roads are old and would not cope with the development in the Kurdistan regional government. The new road will have two directions and would be 51 kilometers long," he said, adding works on the project would start within the few next days.

Syrian-Saudi cooperation in transport fields discussed

Minister of Transport Ya'rob Bader reviewed with Saudi Ambassador to Syria Abdullah al-Aifan cooperation in fields of transport between Syria and Saudi Arabia. Bader made it clear that the strategic vision of the Ministry is directed to the openness on Syria's role in linking between Syria and the neighboring countries and between Syria, Europe and the Gulf states and in providing all the requirements for benefiting from its geographical position for crossing. The minister stressed the role of transport in exchanging process and linking the production areas with consumption ones through rails and airports. Minister Bader invited Saudi Minister of Transport to attend the scheduled conference on the transport inside cities, which is organized in cooperation with the French government.