Dubai Airport Forefront of UAE's Air Traffic

T. Ramavarman
15 March 2010

ABU DHABI — Dubai International Airport continued to lead the surge in air traffic movements in the UAE in February, according to the latest monthly report released by the General Civil Aviation Authority, or GCAA.

The report said that all the airports in the UAE recorded total air traffic movements of 47,800 last month, registering an increase of almost 12.7 per cent, compared to the 42,400 figure in the same month last year.

Dubai Airport ranked first with 21,847 air traffic movements, representing almost 45.7 per cent of total UAE air traffic movements. Overflights — aircraft passing through the UAE airspace without landing in any of the airports in the country — stood next at 10,263, accounting for 21.5 per cent. Abu Dhabi was third with 7,128 flights, or 15 per cent.

The ranking was unchanged from January data, as Dubai also topped the list in with 24,338 air traffic movements, or almost 47 per cent of the UAE total. Overflights followed with 11,006 movements, and Abu Dhabi with 7,733.

Sharjah International Airport was at number four with 4,955 movements, a fraction down from 5,095 in January.

Fujairah International Airport witnessed 459 flights, an increase of 25 per cent compared to February 2009, while Al Ain Airport and Ras Al Khaimah International Airport had 161 and 86 air traffic movements, respectively. The three airports together represented 1.5 per cent of total UAE air traffic movements in last month.

The GCAA issued 179 new crew licenses, renewed 212, and issued 54 temporary permits in February. The report indicated that the GCAA led the region in the application of air safety standards. It issued and renewed 19 certificates for aircraft maintenance companies, 12 aircraft registration certificates and 34 airworthiness certificates. The GCAA also conducted six inspections and audits at the local and non-local levels.

The number of aircraft maintenance companies in the UAE stood at 179, while 10 new aircrafts were registered and eight aircraft modification transactions were conducted. As such, there were 306 air safety-related activities in February 2010, the report said.

Source: Khaleej Times.
Link: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?section=business&xfile=data/business/2010/march/business_march344.xml.