Dubai is closing in on Hong Kong as the world's third-busiest airport this year after a surge in summer travellers.
About 4.72 million passengers boarded flights to and from Dubai last month, the company said. The gain of 417,000 reflected a 9.3 per cent increase on the same period a year earlier.
The rapid growth of Dubai's airport came as a result of its growing attractiveness as a tourism and business hub, alongside its ability to capture stopover traffic between East and West, said Paul Griffiths, the chief executive of Dubai Airports.
"Dubai International is currently ranked as the fourth-busiest airport worldwide for international passenger traffic," Mr Griffiths said. "However, we are hot on the heels of Hong Kong International, and aspire to take over the number three spot by the end of the year.
"This latest milestone further illustrates Dubai International's emergence as a preeminent global hub. Not only did we set a new record, we surpassed the previous high point by over 400,000 passengers."
Traffic grew fastest among routes to and from the Gulf, North America, eastern Europe and South America.
However, air freight volumes during the month slipped 2.7 per cent to 192,538 tonnes of cargo. London Heathrow is the world's top airport for passenger numbers, with annual traffic of 63.1 million last year, followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle, according to the Airports Council International.
The Airport Authority Hong Kong said it handled 5 million passengers last month, a 5.7 per cent increase on the same period a year earlier and less than 300,000 above Dubai International's total.
Kareem Murad, a transport and logistics analyst at Shuaa Capital, said that overtaking Hong Kong was "potentially within reach", given the shrinking difference in passenger numbers.
Vincent Resillot, an aviation analyst at Credit Suisse, said Dubai International's ambitions to overtake Hong Kong were realistic, albeit more likely in the next decade than in the next three months.
"Definitely, they've enough capacity for Dubai International to be a bigger airport than Hong Kong," he said.
"They have significant unutilised capacity at the moment … they have the potential for sure, in terms of infrastructure."
Dubai International has so far experienced little slowdown in its growth of passenger numbers after Dubai World Central in Jebel Ali opened for cargo flights in June last year and for general aviation last April.
Nor have soaring prices of crude oil and fuel surcharges proven much impediment to increased passenger growth. At US$111.27 per contract, Brent crude futures were 49.22 per cent higher last month compared with the same month a year earlier.
Amid a strong set of passenger numbers for the region's biggest airport, Middle Eastern carriers are also predicted to increase their market share. Traffic for Middle Eastern airlines is expected to increase by 14.6 per cent this year, according to estimates from the International Air Transport Association released in June.
ghunter@thenational.ae
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
In Praise of Zayed
A thousand grains of Sand whirl in the sky
To mark the journey of one passer-by
If then a Cavalcade disturbs the scene,
Shall such grains sing before they start to fly?
What man of Honour, and to Honour bred
Will fear to go wherever Truth has led?
For though a Thousand urge him to retreat
He'll laugh, until such counsellors have fled.
Stands always One, defiant and alone
Against the Many, when all Hope has flown.
Then comes the Test; and only then the time
Of reckoning what each can call his own.
History will not forget: that one small Seed
Sufficed to tip the Scales in time of need.
More than a debt, the Emirates owe to Zayed
Their very Souls, from outside influence freed.
No praise from Roderic can increase his Fame.
Steadfastness was the Essence of his name.
The changing years grow Gardens in the Sand
And build new Roads to Sand which stays the same.
But Hearts are not rebuilt, nor Seed resown.
What was, remains, essentially Alone.
Until the Golden Messenger, all-wise,
Calls out: "Come now, my Friend!" - and All is known
- Roderic Fenwick Owen
The%20specs
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
EVIL%20DEAD%20RISE
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