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FARNBOROUGH
// Abu Dhabi’s efforts to become a major global
capital by 2030 took a major step forward yesterday
with a US$43 billion (Dh157.94bn) fleet expansion
plan announced by Etihad Airways.
Deals with Boeing and Airbus for as many as 205
aircraft during the next two decades represent one
of the largest civil aviation orders in history.
The purchases will upgrade Etihad from an airline
launched just four years ago into one of the biggest
in the world – and help transform Abu Dhabi along
the way.
The effects of the Etihad order are expected to
spread throughout the emirate’s economy, creating
new industries and companies in the aerospace sector
and bringing tourists from increasingly far flung
regions of the world.
A study by the Oxford Business Group, commissioned
by Etihad, found that the airline would have a
direct influence on the creation of more than
100,000 jobs in the UAE during the next 10 years.
The order “reflects the strength and pace of
economic growth in the emirate and the integral role
Etihad will play in Abu Dhabi’s future”, James
Hogan, the chief executive of Etihad, said yesterday
at the Farnborough Air Show in the UK.
A successful expansion of Etihad is one key to
realising the ambitious goals that the emirate’s
leadership has set: tripling the population by 2030
and the number of tourists by 2015, and increasing
the size of its economy by 13 per cent a year by
2010, to Dh584bn.
The push to bring in foreign investment and tourism
dollars began only recently. The Abu Dhabi Tourism
Authority and the Tourism Development & Investment
Company were started between 2004 and 2005.
A Department of Transport was formed in 2006, while
the Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, a master blueprint covering
everything from new roads and transport systems to
new property developments, was issued last year.
Mr Hogan said the success of Etihad Airways would be
an important element in these plans.
The rapid ascent of Etihad is part of a widening
shift in the balance of power among the world’s
airlines. Gulf carriers have prospered by directing
traffic from European and Asian carriers, thanks to
ideal locations, lower cost bases and the oil boom.
While Emirates airline is the largest, it is being
pursued hotly by Etihad and Qatar Airways, and
smaller budget carriers have also thrived. Mr Hogan
called the Middle East a “natural air bridge between
East and West” that offered the fastest links for
passengers and cargo.
As Etihad grows, it is expected to stimulate an
emerging aerospace hub in the emirate. A free-zone
cluster is planned around Abu Dhabi International
Airport, which will see $6.8bn in investments
including a brand new terminal that will be four
times larger than the current facilities.
Mubadala, an investment vehicle of the Abu Dhabi
Government, has identified aerospace as a key
element of its mandate to diversify the emirate’s
economy away from relying on oil and petrochemicals.
It has already signed co-operation agreements with
most of the world’s biggest aerospace firms, from
Northrop Grumman to EADS, to look for ways to make
Abu Dhabi a manufacturing and development centre.
With numerous Abu Dhabi delegations attending the
Farnborough Air Show, its starring role in the
global aviation industry is expected to be a
developing story throughout the week.
Other major announcements are expected from Mubadala,
Rolls-Royce, Abu Dhabi Aircraft Company and Abu
Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, the airports operator
and aircraft maintenance firms. |
