Page 265 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Getting Things Done: Operations Strategy and the GCC 247

We dubbed this phenomenon the “three-minute rule” and found
that, while not always repeatable, the Abu Dhabi arrival process
was consistently a breeze.
When traveling to the UAE, even if your business is in Dubai,
it can often make sense to land at Abu Dhabi. Flights are less likely
to be sold out or crowded, the airport is far easier to manage, and
the drive to Dubai is a comfortable, traffic-free 90 minutes. As I have
shared this tip over the years with other business travelers, they
have come to appreciate the merits of Abu Dhabi’s “three-minute
rule.” As the airport expands and Etihad’s traffic grows, I hope the
charm will not be completely lost.
Qatar, too, is investing heavily in its airport and its airline. Its
new airport, built by the American engineering giant Bechtel, will
have a layout similar to Hong Kong’s airport and a yearly capacity
of 24 million passengers in its first phase, and ultimately 50 million
(its current volume is around 10 million). Check-in and retail spaces
will be 12 times the size at the current airport. The airport will have
an oasis theme, with flowing water and oasis plants as decoration.
Energy conservation is also planned to be state-of-the-art, with car-
bon dioxide sensors and other monitoring devices placed around
the terminal to limit the amount of air-conditioning used—a very
7
important matter in a sweltering desert climate. Qatar has also
been aggressively expanding its road infrastructure, building its
first freeway and a strategic highway network (the latter has won
worldwide recognition, in the form of the prestigious the
International Road Federation’s prize for best transportation proj-
ects, among other awards). 8
There are several implications for multinationals of such sub-
stantial investments in airport capacity. Most directly, firms whose
businesses have to do with airport-linked services such as engineer-
ing, project management, maintenance, and duty-free retail can
find ample opportunity to market their services to Gulf airports.
More broadly, business and leisure travelers to the region can
expect greater ease and comfort as carriers and airports vie with one
another to be the most accommodating in the region. This ease of
travel is one of several reasons why the Gulf has been a natural loca-
tion for Middle East regional headquarters for the bulk of leading
multinationals. As related projects such as conference centers con-
tinue to expand, the GCC countries become an even better place for