Page 262 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

244 Dubai & Co.

Figure 9.1 Business benefits of strong infrastructure in GCC countries

their countries’ infrastructure and preserving their infrastructure
excellence. The number of “megaprojects” planned for the region,
across a wide range of infrastructure sectors, is striking. Mentioning
them all would be tedious if not impossible. As we discuss each
of the benefits to business illustrated in Figure 9.1, select examples
of existing facilities and investments being made will suffice to
describe the scale of resources being allocated to infrastructure in
the region.

FLOW OF PEOPLE: EASY IN, EASY OUT
Accessing the GCC region—and especially Dubai—has become
remarkably easy as air links and airport infrastructure have mush-
roomed. The volume of activity at Dubai International Airport is
staggering: in 2006; the airport served nearly 29 million passengers,
1
with 113 airlines flying from the airport to 194 destinations. Given
the airport’s rapid growth—13 to 18 percent in recent years—in
2007 it looks to enter the ranks of the top 30 busiest airports world-
wide. There are direct flights to Dubai from most of the world’s
major business cities, including a highly popular route from New
York. Business-class seats on the route are a hot commodity and