Dubai International Airport's new Concourse D, which will be connected to an existing terminal by driverless train, will open in the first quarter of next year, a top official has said.

A trial run of the new concourse is planned to be conducted soon, said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) and chairman of Dubai Airports, in the  August edition of Via Dubai, the official bi-lingual newsletter of DCAA.

The fourth concourse is part of a $7.8 billion expansion programme designed to boost the airport’s capacity to over 100 million passengers annually by 2020.

“We are confident about the airport handling over 70 million passengers in 2014 which will bring us further closer to becoming the world’s number one airport for international passengers,” he said.

The development of Al Maktoum International Airport with an eventual capacity of 160 million passengers is also progressing in phases, he said.

Sheikh Ahmed said: “Flight operations at the Dubai International Airport have been restored fully on July 21 following the completion of the runway refurbishment as scheduled. We are confident the completion of the major runway refurbishment programme in our history will bring in a significant surge in air traffic.”

As airlines used bigger aircraft where possible and load factors were higher than usual, the actual reduction in seat and passenger numbers was calculated to be less than 26 per cent.

“We are on the mark in terms of giving a big boost to the aviation industry which we anticipate will contribute 32 per cent to Dubai’s GDP by 2020,” he remarked.

Mohammed Abdulla Ahli, director general of DCAA, said: “In today’s competitive and performance-driven business environment in both government and private sectors, having cutting-edge technology, aggressive marketing strategies and customer services is just not enough for an organisation to be successful. A good human resources management is one of the most important elements in determining the success or failure of an organisation.”

In an interview with Via Dubai, Ahmed Hamad Al Hammadi, Head of Dangerous Goods Section at Aviation Security & Accident Investigation Department, said that the DCAA is working on linking its online approval system for Dangerous Goods transportation with the State Security Department (SSD) and Dubai Police for faster and seamless sanction of applications for transportation of explosives and radioactive materials.

“We have issued 9,764 No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for Dangerous Goods transportation by both passenger and cargo airlines in 2013, up from 8146 NOCs, while 686 approvals were given for Firearms transportation last year as against 588 in the year 2012,” he said.

In the first half of 2014, as many as 4344 and 346 NOCs were issued for the Dangerous Goods and Firearms, respectively. During the same period, about 189 applications for Dangerous Goods transportation were turned down. Last year, the department rejected 654 requests for Dangerous Goods transportation and eight for the Firearms for a variety of reasons, including non-compliance of international and local rules and regulations.

He added: “The compliance rate by the cargo industry is very high and we are working to improve this further through creating industry awareness about the latest in Dangerous Goods regulations and potential suspicious shipments.”

The newsletter also revealed that that the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA Dubai) is working on plans to launch an Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) by the end of 2014 or early next year after final approval of the Ministry of Interior.

Major General Obaid Muhair bin Suroor, Deputy Director General of GDRFA-Dubai, said that the new system will help airlines process their passengers’ demographic and travelling details before their arrival in the UAE. - TradeArabia News Service