Fly to let owners with homes in Dubai will soon have better travel links to the country with the opening of a second airport.

This will provide a boost to the fly to let market in Dubai which is currently in a slump.

The first phase launch comes three weeks after its flagship carrier Emirates placed a major order for Airbus 380 super jumbos, enforcing its status as an air transport hub.

There is already one runway at the Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International Airport, named after the emirate's ruling family.

And three airfreight companies have begun operations from the new base, with 12 others due to follow, according to an airline spokesman.

The first phase of operation will be confined to freight traffic, while passenger traffic is scheduled to begin in March 2011, with an annual capacity of five million passengers.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, the head of The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority said: “We have achieved another important step towards completing the airport.”

Situated on the desert outskirts of Dubai and close to the Jebel Ali port, DWC-Al Maktoum International is touted to become the world’s largest airport.

Authorities said when it is all up and running the new hub will be able to handle 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo, and have five runways.

Dubai, a city of around two million people, already boasts the biggest airport in the Middle East. It handled 42 million passengers in 2009, a figure expected to surge to 100 million by 2020, said Jamal al-Hai, Dubai Airports Senior Vice President for Strategic Affairs.

“Our development follows a strategy aimed at turning Dubai into the centre of the new silk route, linking east to west,” he said.

He said the capacity of the current Dubai airport stands at 65 million passengers and should increase to 75 million in 2012 with the completion of the third concourse, which will be exclusively used by the A380 super jumbos.

• Residential property transactions in Dubai are increasing in value but rental income is on a downward slide, according to a new report.

Total transaction values rose 50 percent during the second quarter of 2010, with the number of deals up by 49 percent.

But this is still down 35 percent on a year earlier, according to the report from consultants Jones Lang LaSalle.

Apartment rents are four percent down and rentals are also 10 percent lower than the second quarter of 2009, with the biggest decreases in the high-end sector.
Villa rents saw even bigger falls, down 23 percent year on year and 11 percent in the past three months.

Asking prices have fallen marginally since the first quarter while actual achieved prices increased by 1 percent to around AED867 per square foot.

The report added apartment prices had remained stable whereas villa prices were up marginally over the last quarter.

However with the total residential stock in Dubai expected to hit 320,000 by the end of 2011, Jones Lang Lasalle said prices were not expected to recover fully before 2011 at the earliest.

“Unlike the office sector, no major delays or cancellations are foreseen in the residential market over the remainder of 2010,” the report said, adding about 14,000 units have been completed so far this year.

“Finance is a key factor in market recovery. The residential market has shown signs of improved lending in 2010 as more banks are injecting liquidity into the mortgage market.”

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