Qatar Airways sponsors 2012 Cycling Race Qatar Airways is named Official Partner of the Tour of Qatar cycling event, attracting some of the world's best cyclists to the prestigious event, now in its 11th year. More than 200 international cyclists will converge on Qatar for some fine racing that is expected to attract huge crowds lining the race route. The women's tour will run from February 1-3, while the men will compete for the title from February 5-10. The nine-day Tour around the tiny Gulf state of Qatar will see the best male and female cyclists compete for the coveted titles. Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al-Baker said the airline was proud to be associated with one of the world's leading cycling events in line with the country's strong tradition to support leading sporting tournaments and events.. "We look forward to bringing our 5-star service to the athletes arriving in our city and we wish them all the best as the competition gets underway this week." Abu Dhabi gets huge terminal Airport authorities in the Emirati capital have been cleared to begin building a futuristic airport terminal that will house fast-growing Etihad Airways. State-run Abu Dhabi Airports Company said Wednesday it hopes to begin construction on the planned Midfield Terminal Complex between April and June after getting approval from the emirate's Executive Council. Plans call for an undulating, four-armed building that can handle between 27 million and 30 million passengers a year. It would operate alongside existing airport facilities, which now handle more than 12 million travellers annually. Abu Dhabi's government-owned Etihad Airways is increasingly challenging larger rival Emirates, based in nearby Dubai. Dubai cargo volume up in 2011 Dubai's two airports handled 2.3 million tons of cargo in 2011, slightly up from the previous year, as links between the emirate's air freight operations and sea ports improved, their operator said on Monday. Government-run Dubai Airports owns and manages Dubai's two airports -- Dubai International and the new Dubai World Central Al-Maktoum International, which opened for cargo operations in 2010. The operator did not give a comparative figure for cargo handled by the two in 2010. Dubai World Central handled 89,729 tons of air freight last year, its first full calendar year of operations. "Although the airport is in its infancy, incremental cargo traffic growth has been steady and continues to ramp up as new operations are launched," Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said in a statement. "Sea to air freight traffic growth was particularly robust as airlines took advantage of the airport's bonded link to the Jebel Ali airport." Cargo transit traffic accounted for 37 per cent of the airport's volume. "By 2015, cargo volumes (in Dubai as a whole) will top 3 million tons exceeding the current capacity of Dubai International. We expect a good proportion of that growth to spill over to Dubai World Central," Griffiths said. "As for passenger operations, Dubai International will continue to serve as the primary focus of expansion and we will be investing $7.8 billion to boost capacity to 90 million passengers by 2018." Dubai International, the world's fourth busiest airport in terms of international passenger and cargo traffic, handled 51.0 million passengers last year, up from 47.2 million in 2010, it said earlier this month. "Operational trials for Dubai World Central's passenger terminal are set to start during the second quarter of this year and we could see commercial passenger operations commence in 2013," Griffiths added.
