JAN FEB 2018 Final LR

AIRPORTS
DXB welcomes 76 million passengers in 11 months
and Western Europe. The two regions
were up 7.5% and 8% respectively,
and more than 1.5 million passengers
travelled through DXB from each
region in the month of November.
These figures were reflected in the top
cities, where London (310,551) and
Mumbai (217,279) were the highest.
DUBAI: Dubai International (DXB)
welcomed more than 6.953 million
passengers in November bringing to
75,947,899 the passenger traffic
during the 11 months of 2017 up 5.8
percent with the final figures
expected to shoot up once December
statistics are tallied.
“ O v e r t h e p a s t y e a r, D u b a i
I n t e r n a t i o n a l h a s w i t n e s s e d
consistent growth in terms of
passenger traffic. Given the high
passenger traffic volumes we
welcomed in December we anticipate
ending the year on a positive note,”
said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai
Airports, the operator of DXB.
Passenger traffic at DXB reached
6,953,596 in November compared to
6 , 5 8 1 , 8 0 5 r e c o r d e d i n t h e
corresponding month in 2016, an
increase of 5.6%. Year to date,
passenger numbers at DXB have risen
5.8% to 80,387,442 compared to
75,947,899 recorded during the same
time frame in 2016.
Once again, the most significant
contribution to passenger numbers
came from the Indian Subcontinent
For the first time in four months, Saudi
Arabia (534,906) climbed to the
second spot in terms of passenger
numbers by country, moving in front
of the UK (507,796). India (999,625)
remained the top destination country
for Dubai International.
Freight volumes handled at DXB
during November increased by 0.4%
in a year-on-year comparison, with
tonnage totaling 235,651 compared
to 234,743 for the same month in
2016. The year to date cargo volume
reached 2,425,475, up 2.7% from
2,362,332 recorded during the first 11
months of 2016.
Brussels Airport mulls expansion as cargo volume grows
BRUSSELS: Brussels Airport is
finalizing a plan to expand its cargo
handling area, including having a new
warehouse additional apron space and
a third handling agent, as air freight
volume grows.
Steven Polmans, Head of Cargo and
Logistics at Brussels Airport, said they
processed 500,000 tons of cargo in
2017, the first time since DHL Express
moved their European hub from
Brussels to Leipzig.
“Although not an all-time high, this is a
symbolic milestone for us and our
cargo community,” said Polmans.
“Since 2008, our volumes dropped
under 500,000 tons of cargo and in
2013 we were even
fl i r t i n g w i t h t h e
400,000 number. But in
the last 4 years we have
seen an overall growth
of over 25% in our
flown volumes.”
While growth was seen
in all segments, the
main driver for the year to date growth
of 9.5% comes from the cargo in the
bellies of the passenger aircraft.
Polmans said the segment grew by
13%, followed by integrator traffic
(+9.9%) and traditional full freighter
uplift (+6.6%). Exports out of Brussels
increased considerably in 2017, fuelled
by strong economic performance in
Belgium and Europe. Biggest increase
was noted on lanes to South America
and Asia.
“To cope with this growth, the airport
is finalising a major expansion plan for
the cargo area including new
warehouse, additional apron space
and the introduction of a third
handling agent. The tender process is
ongoing and the outcome is expected
to be formally announced mid Q1 of
next year,” said Polmans.
The Brussels Airport Cargo also
handled more than 140,000 tons of
local cargo being trucked to or from
other European hubs, bringing to
about 700,000 tons total volume it
handled in 2017.
This year, the airport is expecting again
solid growth figures. Some airlines
have started their operation only at
the start of the 2017 winter schedule,
such as Hainan to Shanghai or a
second daily Emirates flight to Dubai.
“On top of that, we are already looking
forward to new customers such as
Cathay Pacific and Amerijet,” said
Polmans adding the efficiency of the
slot booking system for all truck
movements at the cargo zone and the
pooling of airside handling equipment
are being enhanced.