Tag Archives: DXB

Dubai Airports and China Eastern celebrated the arrival of the carrier’s inaugural flight from Qingdao to Dubai at Dubai International (DXB) on Saturday evening. The thrice weekly service is an important addition to China Eastern’s existing flights connecting DXB to Shanghai and Kunming, and the first ever to connect DXB to Qingdao, a major port city of 9 million population located on China’s Yellow Sea coast. China Eastern will operate three flights per week between the two cities, offering customers greater connectivity and convenience. A top trading partner of the UAE, China is a major contributor to DXB’s traffic with more than 3.5 million travellers in 2018. China is also one of the fastest growing countries in terms of volume of visitors to Dubai with numbers growing 12 per cent to 857,000 in 2018. A total of five airlines, including China Eastern, connect Dubai to 10 destinations across China on 81 weekly flights.

After completing its rehabilitation programme, Dubai Airports Southern Runway is now ready again after 45 days. The Emirates Boeing 777 travelling from Seattle was the first aircraft to touch down on the newly refurbished tarmac reopening DXB to return to full capacity. Scheduling experts optimised DXB’s one runway operation so there was only a 32% reduction in flights for the period at DXB. Traffic at Dubai’s second airport, DWC, increased by nearly 700% during the period and was applauded by customers and airlines for its speed, efficiency and convenience.

Turkish Airlines has announced the launch of direct flights between Sharjah and Istanbul. With existing services from Dubai International Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport, Turkish Airlines’ new Sharjah route marks its fourth destination into the UAE. Flights from Sharjah International Airport will be operated seven times a week in both directions with the inaugural flight departing on April 5, 2019. Customers can book a ticket from Sharjah to Istanbul for a price as low as 999 AED for Economy and 5,999 AED for Business Class, flights from Sharjah to Europe for prices starting from 1,500 AED, or to the Americas for prices starting from 2,600 AED if the booking is made before March 31, for trips until July 3. All passengers booking a flight from Sharjah International Airport in February with departure in April will earn 1,000 miles for each ticket. The new route bolsters Turkish Airlines’ status as the airline that flies to the most destinations in the world, strengthening its identity as a leading global airline with one of the youngest and most modern fleets in the world. “Our aim with this new route is to meet the rising demand for greater international travel options into and out of Sharjah,” commented Ahmet Olmuştur, Chief Marketing Officer, Turkish Airlines. “The UAE is known for being a travel-hungry part of the world, and now, more customers can capitalise on Turkish Airlines’ unparalleled network of destinations as we continue to explore even more new routes..”

Emirates Skywards celebrated the opening of its new Emirates Skywards Centre in Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (DXB). The centre was inaugurated by Dr Nejib Ben Khedher, Senior Vice President, Emirates Skywards and Nick Moore, Senior Vice President, Passenger Services, Emirates. The Emirates Skywards Centre at DXB will function as a one-stop customer touchpoint for all new and existing members of the Emirates Skywards loyalty programme and will provide assistance across a wide range of services including programme enrolment, profile creation and luggage tag printing. Emirates Skywards staff will also be available onsite to consult with members on all tiers- and miles-related queries including how to earn, purchase, spend miles and make optimum use of expiring miles. Khedher said, “With our new Emirates Skywards Centre, the aim is to be one step closer to our members and to help them maximise their experience and value from the programme. Members can stop by at any time for all their Skywards needs – whether it is getting information on membership tiers, finding out about our latest partners or using their Skywards miles to access special events at their destination,” he added. The Emirates Skywards Centre is now open and located at the Departures Level in Concourse B at Dubai International Airport Terminal 3. The Centre is accessible to all current and new Emirates Skywards members departing from and connecting to flights in Terminal 3. In addition to the Emirates Skywards Centre, members can get more information on the loyalty programme and linked offers to earn and spend miles through the Skywards section on the Emirates app, as well as online on the Emirates Skywards website. Members can also use any of …

Dubai Airports, along with HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and representatives from aviation sector and the emirate of Dubai recently welcomed its billionth passenger at Dubai International Airport (DXB). Nine-year-old Arjun and his family arrived from Orlando, Florida. At a celebration held in DXB, Arjun, along with his mother Ramya, father Venkatesh and thirteen-year-old brother Varun, were personally greeted by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Airports. The family was delighted with details of an unforgettable and surprising set of experiences that showcase Dubai’s longstanding reputation for excitement, luxury and modern Arabic hospitality, organised for the next few days of their trip. At the airport, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Airports, said, “This landmark billionth-passenger achievement is the result of team work and collaboration, and special thanks goes out to each and every member of the airport community who have played a role in this journey. Of course, we would not be in this position if it weren’t for the visionary leadership of HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler, Dubai both of whom foresaw the development of Dubai into a global centre for trade, tourism and commerce enabled by a fast-growing and world-leading aviation sector with top-flight airport infrastructure.” The billionth customer is arguably the most significant in a long litany of achievements since the airport first opened on September 30, 1960. Today, the hub is widely considered a benchmark for its quality infrastructure, passenger and cargo volumes and high-service levels despite unrelenting …

Dubai International (DXB) saw 7.2 million passengers in September as traffic rose to 67.5 million for the year. Traffic was down slightly (-0.2%) in September due to the Eid Al Adha holidays that fell in September 2017. It was the sixth time this year that DXB’s monthly traffic surpassed the 7 million mark, helping finish off the third quarter with 23.8 million customers, up 1%. A total of 7,197,866 customers were served in September (- 0.2%) and 6 million bags (+1.12%) were passed through the airport’s sophisticated 175 km long baggage system during the month. Smart Gate technology at DXB helps speed customers through immigration while state-of-the-art operations centre leverages real-time information to improve service and efficiency, leading to a reduction of 28% in wait times during September. India remained DXB’s top destination country by customer volume, with total traffic reaching 957,748 during the month. The United Kingdom was the was second with 538,199 customers, followed by Saudi Arabia with 454,929 customers. Other markets of note include Australia (256,848), the US (252,264) and China (208,822). The top three cities were London (329,778), Mumbai (199,829) and New Delhi (170,122). The fastest-growing regions were North America,(up by 15.2%,) Africa (up 10.9%) and CIS growing at 6.8%.

flydubai has announced that it will operate flights to select destinations from Dubai World Central (DWC) in order to provide more travel options to passengers during the southern runway refurbishment project previously announced by Dubai Airports. The refurbishment project is scheduled to take place between April 16 and May 30, 2019. flydubai will operate flights to 39 destinations from DWC during the period of the refurbishment project to ensure minimum disruption to passengers’ travel plans. During this period, flights to 10 of these destinations will also be available from DXB. Flights to all other flydubai destinations will continue to operate from Dubai International (DXB). Following the completion of the runway enhancement project, flydubai will resume its flights to these 39 destinations from Dubai International (DXB). The list includes Addis Ababa (ADD), Cochin (COK), Isfahan (IFN), Faisalabad (LYP), Istanbul (SAW), Abha (AHB), Delhi (DEL), Jeddah (JED), Chennai (MAA), Sialkot (SKT), Ahmedabad (AMD), Dammam (DMM), Kabul (KBL), Muscat (MCT), Shiraz (SYZ), Amman (AMM), Gassim (ELQ), Karachi (KHI), Medina (MED), Ta’if (TIF), Bahrain (BAH), Jizan (GIZ), Khartoum (KRT), Mashad (MHD), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV), Beirut (BEY), Ha’il (HAS), Kuwait (KWI), Multan (MUX), Tabuk (TUU), Mumbai (BOM), Alexandria (HBE), Lucknow (LKO), Najaf (NJF), Colombo (CMB), Hyderabad (HYD), Lar (LRR), Riyadh (RUH).

Dubai International (DXB) has recorded its second busiest month ever surpassing the 8 million passenger mark in July, according to the monthly traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports. The airport clocked monthly traffic exceeding 8 million passengers on three other occasions last year – in January (8.03 mn), July (8.06 mn) and August (8.23 mn). Passenger numbers in July totalled 8,207,987, up 1.8 per cent compared to 8,065,789 recoded in July 2017. Year to date passenger traffic reached 51,947,092 up 1.6 per cent compared to 51,120,057 recorded during the first seven months in 2017. In terms of growth rate, Eastern Europe was the fastest growing region in July with traffic surging 24.4 per cent – mainly fueled by flydubai’s route development plan, followed by CIS (+18.34%) with major contributions from the Russian market and destinations such as Bishkek, Baku and Almaty among others, and Africa (+9.7%). India retained its position as the top destination country with 1,032,302 passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (583,975 passengers) and the UK (581,557 passengers). London, with 358,201 passengers, topped the list of the most popular destinations served from DXB by traffic volume in July, followed by Kuwait (221,696), Mumbai (209,205) and Riyadh (200,411). Flight movements during July reached 35,393, up 3.5% compared to 34,181 movements recorded during July 2017. Year to date flight movements totalled 237,177 compared to 240,179 recorded during the first seven months of 2017, a contraction of 1.2%. Passengers per movement remained high at 238, but registered a contraction of 2.1% compared to the record high of 243 recorded in July 2017.

According to the monthly traffic report, Dubai International (DXB) welcomed nearly 7 million passengers in February. The monthly traffic in February totalled 6,928,547 compared to 6,948,157 passengers recorded during the same month in 2017, down marginally by 0.3 per cent. The year to date traffic reached 14,888,693 passengers, down 0.6% compared to 14,985,165 recorded during the first two months of 2017. In terms of percentage growth, Eastern Europe was the fastest expanding market with traffic growing 17.6%, followed by South America (13.3%) and CIS (12.1%). India remained the top destination country by passenger volume with a total of 962,425 passengers during the month. The UK was placed second with 505,255 passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia with 490,058 and Pakistan with 336,875 passengers. London topped the list of destination cities with 305,768 passengers, followed by Mumbai (207,038 passengers) and Bangkok (201,077). Flight movements at DXB totalled 31,456 in February, down 3.2% compared to 32,486 during the same period in 2017. Year to date flight movements totalled 66,762 compared to 69,078* recorded during the first two months last year, down 3.4%. The average number of passengers per movement during February reached 228 compared to 223 during the corresponding month in 2017, an increase of 2.2%.

Dubai Airports has confirmed plans to close Dubai International’s (DXB) southern runway for a 45-day period in 2019 to conduct a comprehensive upgrade designed to boost safety, service and capacity levels. The upgrade work is scheduled to take place from April 16 to May 30 when passenger traffic historically ebbs due to a seasonal lull. The southern runway refurbishment project will involve the placement of approximately 60,000 tonnes of asphalt and 8,000m3 of concrete to strengthen and resurface the runway and the adjacent taxiways. While ongoing runway maintenance is scheduled on a weekly basis, more extensive upgrades require a complete closure of the runway. Dubai Airports will also use the opportunity to install 800 km of primary cables and replace over 5,500 runway lights with more modern, economic and environment friendly technology. Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports said, “In the months ahead, we will be working closely with Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects, airlines and other stakeholders to ensure we optimise service and capacity during this period next year and minimise the impact on our customers. While we regret any inconvenience this may cause to our airline customers and passengers, these upgrades are absolutely necessary to heighten safety, boost capacity and pave the way for future growth.”