6 Vol. 19/18, May 2018
FIRST WORDFIRST WORD || SHAYAN SHAKEEL, SENIOR REPORTERSHA
Dubai just keeps moving
With a deep-sea port, advanced hyperloop plans and two major airports,
Dubai is no longer at a logistics crossroads – it is the crossroads
Hyperloop One, and the
project already has $300m
in funding behind it. The
goal is to move goods at
a speed of 1,200kph over
land, making connections
between Al Maktoum
International Airport and
Jebel Ali Port possible in
a matter of minutesThe benefi ts of speed
All this matters for several
reasons. We live in an
interconnected world where
the rapid transport of goods
is key; especially in an era
when the rapidly growing
e-commerce business
depends on ever faster
delivery times. This requires
substantial upgrades to
infrastructure everywhere.
The future of aviation also
requires a more seamless
experience for passengers.
When I spoke with DubaiJoining the dots
Dubai’s eventual plan is to
closely align connections
across its sea and air logistics
assets. As they stand, cargo
connections from Jebel Ali
to Al Maktoum International
take up to four hours right
now. But that’s not fast
enough for the city; its
experiments with hyperloop
technology show what it is
really aiming for.
Launched last week, DP
World Cargo Speed is a joint
venture between Jebel Ali
Port operator DP World
and billionaire the Richard
Branson-chaired VirginAirports CEO Paul Griffiths
last year, he said he was
“serious about looking into
technology... that could
allow for passengers to
drop their bags off, say near
Business Bay and hop into
a pod to get to DWC in five
or six minutes.”
The same technology was
mentioned by Emirates’
chief digital officer Christoph
Mueller at the Arabian Travel
Market last month, when
he envisaged a scenario in
which passengers transit
between Dubai’s two airports
in a matter of minutes on a
hyperloop network.
Branson, meanwhile,
reckons Hyperloop One
could make use of “one
of these lovely islands
in Dubai,” he said in the
announcement last week.
“Freight could be unloaded
on an island, put on a
hyperloop, and shipped 20
miles inland. All of that port
land could be sold off for
hotels, leisure or other things
because it’s on the sea.”
Whether that comes to pass
remains to be seen. However
all signs point to Dubai’s
sea and aviation logistics
operations being ever more
closely interconnected. Given
that the city is the first stop
for all shipments making
their way to the rest of Asia
from the US, Europe and
Africa, Dubai’s position on
the globe, at the centre of
an eight-hour flight that can
connect two-thirds of the
world, it makes complete
sense to do so. aQ ALL SIGNS POINT TO DUBAI’S SEA AND
AVIATION LOGISTICS OPERATIONS BEING
EVER MORE CLOSELY INTERCONNECTED”u Flying high Al Maktoum International serves as a hub for air cargo trafficA DECADE AGO, DUBAI’S CLAIM
to fame was the range of
grandiose projects – the
world’s tallest building,
a giant indoor ski slope,
offshore islands and
mega-malls. The success
of these projects in
drawing attention to
Dubai is undeniable. Yet
something about the city’s
latest projects seem very
different from those it was
contemplating back then.
Let’s start with aviation:
Al Maktoum International is
being built at a cost of $32bn
and will handle 120 million
passengers in 2022, and 250
million by 2050. It is central
to a 140 sq-km multiphased
Dubai World Central
development of six zones,
including Logistics City and
Aviation City. It will also be
a mere stone’s throw from
the $7bn Expo 2020 site,
where Siemens will build its
global logistics headquarters
- where automation will
govern the movement of
goods, powered by artificial
intelligence and the Internet
of Things.
The combined Dubai
World Central and Expo
2020 Dubai Exhibition
District, which has now been
rebranded Dubai South, is
just a short hop from Jebel
Ali Freezone. If aviation
accounts for 38 percent of
the city’s GDP – scheduled to
be 45 percent by 2030 – the
world’s biggest man-made
harbour, and also the
UAE’s most important port,
accounts for fully a quarter.
972,
The freight in tonnes
transported through Dubai
World Central (DWC) in 2017