ALAN PEAFORD
Access to the Dubai 2001 airshow will be better than ever before, says the head of Dubai's Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Emirates. Speaking at Le Bourget, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said visa restrictions have now lifted on visitors from 37 countries.
"We are doing everything we can to make things easier for people coming to our country," Sheikh Ahmed says. "We are improving the road system, we are seeing more hotels open and the airport is expanding to take more visitors."
Immigration
"Now people from countries such as the USA, Canada, Western Europe and Japan no longer need visas to come to Dubai - they will speed through immigration."
The Dubai show takes place 4-8 November and promises to be the biggest and the best yet.
Sheikh Ahmed's support for the show is typical of the support the ruling Maktoum family is giving to projects in the country. "This is good for Dubai and good for Dubai business," Sheikh Ahmed says.
Traffic to the Gulf emirate has grown by 14% over the past year to 14 million passengers and now compares with Cairo as the Middle East's busiest hub. "We are expanding the Emirates terminal and because of the way we allow airlines to choose their times and don't have to allocate slots we will cope well with the growth. We fully expect that figure to rise to 50 million passengers over the next decade," says Sheikh Ahmed.
Delta began direct flights from New York to Dubai earlier this week and Emirates begins reciprocal flights in 2003. Competition to the region is fierce but Sheikh Ahmed says that competition is good for passenger service.
"There are a lot of airlines operating in the Gulf but they must compete on quality." Sheikh Ahmed says that too many of the region's airlines were operated for political schedules rather than commercial. "Many times people have suggested that there should be a reduction and maybe they are right."
Schedules
"One airline will be more profitable than six. But the routes and the schedules must be determined by the passenger traffic and not national pride."
Passenger service will remain the focal point for Emirates; ironically this rules out the airline following the lead of United and Virgin and investing in business jet solutions for premium passengers.
"I travel on a business aircraft when I go to places where there is no direct routing. But the level of service, of catering or entertainment is never as good as on first class. Maybe this is something that will work in America or Europe. We will watch these developments carefully."
Source: Flight Daily News
