Volume 13, Issue 28


THE WE E K LY NEWS PA P E R FOR THE A I R C A RGO P ROF E S S IONA L


Kuwait to develop huge cargo city 2


7


Toll buys into UK


forwarding market


Schiphol looks


to the future


THE KUWAITI Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) last week signed a contract to initiate the first phase of a massive cargo city development that will revitalise the air freight business at the country’s main Kuwait International airport gateway. The


ambitious


project will eventu- ally cover 3 million square metres, mak- ing it the biggest cargo city in the Middle East region, the directorate claimed. DGCA head Fawaz Al-Farah


explained: “The open skies policy, adopted by the Kuwaiti government since 2006, has significantly con- tributed to the growth of aviation


AIR FRANCE, KLM and Martinair have entered into an agreement to settle damage claims brought against them alleging violations of US antitrust laws in connection with air cargo shipping services. Under the terms of the agreement


Al-Sabah comments on “essential” stride


movement from and to the country.” He added that


the government also attaches great impor- tance to the construc- tion of a 4.6km third runway at the airport able to handle the largest aircraft. The official sign-


ing ceremony for the cargo city develop- ment was attended by deputy prime minister for economic affairs Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah, who


said the project is an “essential” stride in Kuwait’s “quest for transformation into a leading international financial, commercial and service hub”. Situated between the airport’s


existing western runway and its planned third runway, the first phase


to settle the dispute in the US, which is still subject to court approval, the carriers will pay US$87 million in exchange for a release from all claims by direct purchasers of air cargo shipping services to and from the US between 2000 and 2006.


13 Security:


preparing for total screening


of the cargo city project will provide apron space on which 67 large air- craft, including freighters of B747 size, can be parked. Kuwaiti minister of communica-


tion and national assembly affairs Mohammad Mohsen Al-Busairi informed that the first part of the cargo city project will cost up to KD35 million (US$120.5 million). “This stage will take 400 days to complete,” he informed. Regarding the plans for the con-


struction of the third runway, he noted that studies relating to its con- structionwere near to completion and that the project will be put up for tender soon. Al-Busairi continued: “The state


of Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf region at large are poised to enter a new era ofmajor economic boom. “Kuwait is striving to become the


focal point of this boom through the modernisation of its integrated


Air France, KLM and Martinair agree US antitrust settlement The civil actions were initially filed


in 2006 after the US Department of Justice and theEuropeanCommission started investigations into the air cargo industry. The matters pursued by the EU Commission remain pending.


WORLD NEWS P2, 3, 4 & 6  PEOPLE P4  TRADEFINDER P15 16


SkyCargo handles


Heathrow fire crisis


land, sea and air transport network.” According to Mahdi Al-Dakheel,


projects administration director at DGCA, the completion of the cargo village project “will really position Kuwait on the international cargo map”.


 The Kuwait Investment Author- ity, the country’s wealth fund, is reportedly in talks with foreign banks to sell a 35 percent stake in state-owned Kuwait Airways to a strategic investor as part of a plan to privatise the carrier.


Maximus AN-124 flies into DWC


MAXIMUS AIR CARGO, the UAE’s largest all-cargo carrier, introduced its AN-124 aircraft to the brand new DubaiWorld Central – AlMak- toumInternational airport on 14 July. The 120-tonne payload freighter became the largest civilian air-


craft to touch the tarmac at the recently opened DWC facility, which has the capacity to handle 250,000 tonnes of cargo a year in its opening phase. Fathi Buhazza, president and CEO ofMaximus Air Cargo and


founder of the Care by Air initiative, which offers humani- tarian airlift on a not-for-profit basis, said: “We are proud of the great vision of the UAE in developing a global, commercial, trade and logistics hub that will facilitate the region’s growth.” AndrewWalsh, vice president cargo and logistics at DWC operator Dubai Airports, added: “Cargo opera- tions are growing fast as the airport offers attrac- tive commercial opportunities and is already on course to become a global cargo hub.”


19 July 2010


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