السلام عليكم

A COUPLE of short years ago the industry was inundated with press releases announcing the latest grand scheme for Dubai World Central – the name itself giving away the confidence and hugely ambitious plans for a giant complex and six-runway airport.

However, since the financial maelstrom hit the Emirate last year the future scope of the project has been plagued with uncertainty.

According to Al Maktoum International Airport’s vice-president cargo and logistics, Andrew Walsh, the airport (also known as Dubai World Central) should open at the end of June. But it remains unclear which carriers, if any, will move operations to it.

Walsh says that for reasons of commercial confidentiality he cannot discuss which carriers, or what type of carriers, are interested in operating out of the airport, though he says discussions are ongoing with both existing freighter operators at Dubai and new entrants.

One possible target could be sea-air operators. According to Walsh, sea-to-air transfers will be possible in four hours at the new airport, compared to 16-24 hours in the current one. “Frankly, I can’t imagine why a sea-air operator would not want to be flying there,” he says.
For the full story read the latest digital edition of Air Cargo News, dated 5 April, here.

The CBK’s new and spectacular headquarters building is of a unique design, which will include all the very latest high-tech gadgetry and building techniques.

HOK (London) won the design and construction supervision contract in June 2003 .
When finished, it is expected to dominate the city’s skyline; a city already renowned for its sophisticated architectural designs.

The building’s design is based around a triangular, truncated pyramid tower, composed of geometric shapes which echo the geometry and order of traditional Kuwaiti architecture and which sit in harmony with the nearby Ben Khamis Mosque on the north-west side of the site.

The two walls of the south, city-facing, tower will be predominantly of imported stone; the stone will be used as a heat-sink to absorb the blistering Kuwaiti sun during the day while harnessing that stored heat to ward off the cold of the desert nights.

The transparent north-facing elevation is being constructed using fairly standard double-glazed, solar-controlled glass thus offering the building’s occupants breathtaking and panoramic views across the Gulf while at the same time revealing the interior and conserving energy.

 PALM PLAN: An artist’s impression of the Fairmont Palm Jumeirah. by Joanne BladdFairmont’s Palm Jumeirah Hotel will miss its scheduled completion date by at least a year to 2011 as its backers struggle to secure funding, the President of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts said on Tuesday.

Kuwaiti firm IFA Hotels & Resorts, partners in the five-star resort on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, is finding it hard to gain finance in the souring debt markets, said Thomas Storey, president of the Canada-based hotel chain.

There is also a question mark over whether the original plan for Palm Jumeirah, a development of state-backed Nakheel, the Dubai real estate firm that requested a standstill on debt repayments in November, will ever be realised, he said.

“That’s going to be tough,” he said. The units, which are on track for handover in the second-quarter, will be managed by Fairmont in exchange for a portion of the rental fee. All have been sold, Storey said.

“Masdar City will grow organically to reflect the market,” he said.

Masdar City was originally going to generate its energy needs through solar, wind and hydrogen power projects.

In June, the company said it had integrated its first solar power plant into the emirate’s electricity grid. (Reuters)

NEW DEAL: Arabtec Construction has won a contract for an offices and hotel project in Doha. by Andy Sambidge

The project comprises two buildings, one with 45 floors of office space and a 45-storey five star hotel.

The works, which are expected to take 30 months to complete, will include structural, civil, electro-mechanical and external works, the company said in a statement.

The company is currently executing Al Waab City Project in Doha, a mixed-use development of houses, retail, offices and apartments.

Arabtec, which earlier this month sold a 70 percent stake to Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments, has won a number of contracts in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Qatar over the last few months to diversify its portfolio away from Dubai, where construction work has dried up.