Economy UAE cancels $880m Airbus H225M helicopter deal By Pramod Kumar May 10, 2023, 5:53 AM Airbus The UAE placed the order during a visit to Abu Dhabi by French President Emmanuel Macron in December 2021 The UAE has cancelled an €800 million ($880.6 million) contract to procure 12 H225M caracal multirole helicopters. “We recently terminated a contract with Airbus Helicopters to purchase H225 helicopters,” Muammar Abdulla Abushehab, sector chief, defence and security industrial affairs of Tawazun Council, UAE’s defence and security acquisitions authority told Breaking Defense magazine. The official said the cancellation was based on financial and technical reasons, adding one of the reasons was the failure to achieve in-country value goals. “We found it difficult to continue the contract due to the high lifecycle cost, the limitations in adapting to modular designs of future mission requirements and the complex technical proposal,” he added. The H225M is a long-range tactical transporter equivalent to the Super Puma VIP, offshore and search-and-rescue helicopter. The order was placed during a visit to Abu Dhabi by French President Emmanuel Macron in December 2021.
Real Estate ‘Safe’ Sharjah attracts Kuwaiti investors to $950m project The emirate of Sharjah has been praised as “safe and business-friendly” by a Kuwaiti developer who has formed a partnership to develop a AED3.5 billion ($950 million) housing project in its burgeoning local property market. Talal Al-Bahar, vice-chairman and CEO of Kuwait Real Estate Company (Aqarat), said that investors were attracted to Sharjah because of […] 23 hours ago
Aviation Riyadh Air delays launch after Boeing setbacks Riyadh Air has been forced to push back its launch date to the third quarter of 2025 after delays to deliveries from Boeing. The new Saudi airline had been scheduled to begin flying early this year. It is a blow to Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambitions to attract 150 million visits a year. Riyadh Air was founded […] 23 hours ago
Tech KKR signs a $5bn Gulf data centre deal in Dubai KKR, the American investment giant, and the data centre platform Gulf Data Hub (GDH), based in Dubai, have signed a strategic partnership to invest $5 billion in data centres serving the Gulf. A joint press release on Friday said that funds “affiliated with KKR” will also acquire a stake in GDH, although it did not […] 1 day ago
Real Estate Eagle Hills plans Trump hotel project with Kushner The Abu Dhabi-based developer Eagle Hills and Affinity Partners, an investment firm founded by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have agreed to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade. The project, on the site of the former Yugoslav defence ministry, will feature a 175-room Trump hotel as its centrepiece, and 1,500 […] 1 day ago
