UAE | Traffic and Transport
Financial loss 'will run into millions'
The Biman Bangladesh Airlines accident that caused Dubai International Airport to close for eight hours yesterday will exact a heavy toll from airlines following dozens of cancelled and diverted flights.
- By Ivan Gale, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 March 13, 2007
- Image Credit: Ravindranath/Gulf News
- Passengers of a London-Dubai British Airways flight at Abu Dhabi International Airport waiting for their buses to Dubai.
Dubai: The Biman Bangladesh Airlines accident that caused Dubai International Airport to close for eight hours yesterday will exact a heavy toll from airlines following dozens of cancelled and diverted flights.
A total of 36 outgoing flights were cancelled and another 35 inbound flights were diverted after authorities shut down the airport pending an investigation into Biman flight BG006, which reportedly suffered a front wheel problem during its failed takeoff.
While there are no clear estimates of the financial impact resulting from the disruptions, airlines will be affected from the loss of revenue from the cancelled flights. And with the diverted flights, airlines will also bear the costs involved with transporting passengers by bus or plane back to Dubai.
"It's very difficult to measure the financial impact of this sort of disruption, but it will certainly be in the millions of dirhams," said David Kaminski-Morrow, editor of Air Transport Intelligence.
The incoming flights were rerouted to land in airports in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah. A handful of flights were forced to land even further away as Muscat, Kuwait and Shiraz, Iran.
Knock-on effect
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As the largest carrier operating out of Dubai airport, Emirates suffered the greatest impact. Over 20 flights were cancelled, more than 10 were diverted to other UAE airports - with one flight landing in Kuwait, and an additional 24 flights experienced long delays.
Alitalia, Air France, Air India, Iran Air, Cathay Pacific, Malaysian Airlines and Pakistan International Airlines were other airlines sent scrambling when the airport was temporarily closed.
Richard Tollis, an aviation analyst at Ernst & Young in London, said airport closures pose great logistical challenges for airlines trying to return diverted aircraft to their intended destinations.
"If a slight schedule is disrupted, the aircraft doesn't get to where they're supposed to be. Then there's the issue of coming back again. It's a real knock-on effect."
Airport facts
Dubai International Airport has emerged as the Middle East's most important travel hub, serving as a key junction for passengers travelling between Europe and Asia.
In 2006, over 28.7 million passengers passed through Dubai International, reflecting a growth of around 3 million passengers each year beginning in 2002. Cargo, another vital aspect of Dubai International, saw volumes rise by 6 per cent in 2006 to 1.4 million tonnes.
The airport's meteoric rise belies humbler beginnings when in 1959 Dubai International Airport was established with the construction of an airfield on a stretch of land four km from what used to be the edge of the city.
Much of its current infrastructure was added in 2000 with the completion of Terminal 1, also known as Shaikh Rashid Terminal, which boosted the airport's capacity from 10 million to 25 million travellers per year.
Built as part of the first phase of the airport's general expansion project at a cost of Dh2 billion, Terminal 1 helped the airport grow to its current reach of hosting 113 airlines flying to over 165 destinations across the globe. Emirates, the largest carrier in Dubai, operates 110 flights a day.
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