Dubai International Airport has been named as the world’s leading hub in terms of A380 flights by airports business intelligence news provider the Moodie Report.com. 

According to the report, Dubai handled 7,259 A380 flights to 28 destinations in 2012. The vast majority of these flights were operated by Emirates, the world´s biggest operator of the super-jumbo aircraft.

Singapore Changi was second, with 6,653 A380 flights, and London Heathrow was third with 3,697. Frankfurt, Sydney, Paris, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York and Melbourne were also in the top 10.

Dubai was also recently named as the world´s second busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic.

Aircraft ground support equipment

Cavotec´s innovative ground support equipment supplies A380 aircraft at Dubai´s dedicated Emirates Concourse A with essential services such as cool air and electrical power.

As previously announced, we are also currently supplying our ground support equipment for the new Emirates A380 Engineering Centre at the airport. For this project, we are installing pop-up pit systems and pre-conditioned air units for four new A380 maintenance hangars.

Aviation Refuelling solutions

Cavotec´s aviation systems enable airports to reduce the use of diesel-driven equipment, increasing operational efficiency and resulting in cleaner air and less cluttered tarmac around aircraft.

The intensifying debate over the need to modernise infrastructure in the US and elsewhere has focused on the scale of the challenge; but should this also be considered an opportunity for engineering and innovation? 

In a recent article, The Economist highlighted how the US is grappling with the need to upgrade its aging maritime infrastructure.

According to the article, around 70 per cent of America’s imports and 75 per cent of its exports transit its ports. Furthermore, the size and number of ships calling at US ports is steadily increasing. Despite this, only seven US ports are currently capable of handling Post-Panamax container ships.

A Cavotec cable reel powers a container crane at the Port of Salalah in Oman.

And last week, the consultancy McKinsey & Company published a report entitled “Rethinking Infrastructure”. The document, which can also be seen as a call to action, described the extent of the challenge:

“Just to keep pace with projected global growth between now and 2030, the world will have to spend $57 trillion on roads, bridges, ports, power plants, water facilities, and other forms of infrastructure.”

This would, according to the consultancy, require a considerable increase in investment levels from those of recent years, and collaboration between a broad range of public and private actors.

While these challenges are considerable, Cavotec anticipates a role for engineering and innovative technologies that will improve the transport of people and goods – at ports, airports, via road and rail – and add to the quality of life that societies have grown to expect and are likely to increasingly demand. It’s a huge challenge – but one that we relish being a part of efforts to meet.

As Cavotec Chairman Stefan Widegren outlined in the Group’s annual Report 2011:

“With the support of our stakeholders and in close co-operation with customers, we could achieve great things for the benefit of us all. This will eventually lead to smarter solutions, a better economy, better use of our resources and an improvement of the world we live in.”

For some forty years, Cavotec has developed innovative technologies – such as automated mooring for ships - that ensure cleaner, more efficient operations in industrial applications all over the world. We look forward to continuing, and expanding this work in the years ahead.

As our presence on the Chinese market, and across Asia as a whole, continues to grow, Cavotec Shanghai celebrated successfully moving into its new premises last week.

Office warming: Cavotec Shanghai’s new premises

Cavotec Shanghai serves customers in all four of our market units – Ports & Maritime, Airports, Mining & Tunnelling and General Industry.

You can find our new home at: Unit 11, Nr. 1951, Duhui Road, Shanghai 201108. And conveniently, our phone number – 021-54429778 – and fax number – 021-34073498 – are unchanged from our former premises.

Our thanks to our dedicated staff who made the moving process as smooth as possible.

Our ground support systems are playing their part in Dubai Airport’s newly-opened flagship terminal: the world’s first dedicated to the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

Dubai International Airport’s Concourse A, which opened earlier this month, gives Emirates — one of the fastest-growing airlines — an additional capacity of 15 million passengers a year.

Cavotec equipment at Concourse A includes Pop-Up Pits that supply air and electrical power to aircraft. You can see pictures of these systems on our Facebook page.

Cavotec has worked with major airports in the region for many years, and is currently working on projects at several other hub airports. In December we completed the commissioning of a major application at Bahrain International Airport.

Around the world and around the clock, Cavotec technologies are ensuring a broad range of industries operate safely, efficiently and sustainably. 

To demonstrate how and where our systems do this, we plan to post an image of Cavotec equipment on our Twitter feed every day of 2013 in a campaign we’re calling Cavotec365.

We hope that Cavotec365 will trigger the interest of anyone with a passion for innovative technologies, the Cavotec brand, or even photography.

We’ll  start with our own images, but we’ll also be asking Cavotec colleagues, friends and customers to send in their own shots of Cavotec applications.

Look out for the #Cavotec365 hashtag from the 1st of January.

Last week, Cavotec Germany hosted an open day at its new, state-of-the-art production facility and office space just outside Frankfurt.  

Spick and span on the factory floor

The Dietzenbach-based premises, just 20km from Frankfurt Airport, are the new home for Cavotec Fladung and Cavotec Germany. Cavotec Fladung designs and manufactures advanced in-ground aircraft support equipment used at airports all over the world.

The new production facility optimises production processes, with clearly defined areas for specific activities and gantry systems to ensure the safe and efficient transfer of products around the factory floor. The new site also leaves room for the company to continue to grow in the years ahead.

Precision at work: a Cavotec engineer works on an electrical connector

Cavotec Germany Managing Director, Thomas Dreyer; and Cavotec CEO, Ottonel Popesco spoke at the event, before attendees were taken on guided tours around the site. Guests included customers, suppliers and Cavotec staff.

The event, held every two years, also includes product demonstrations and presentations on Cavotec technologies. The following day, employees’ families were invited to the site to see where their families work. Although on this day, the emphasis was rather more on the bouncy castle than pre-conditioned air systems!

This year’s occasion was well-received by all those present, and we look forward to holding a similar event again in 2014.