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Dubai

Following the Nordic acquisition, DEA's fleet is valued at around $22bn

DAE acquires Irish aircraft lessor Nordic Aviation

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, the Middle East’s largest aviation services company, has acquired aircraft leasing company Nordic Aviation Capital. No details on the terms of the transaction were disclosed. DAE said Nordic Aviation’s fleet in September 2024 comprised 252 owned and committed assets on lease to approximately 60 airline customers in approximately 40 countries. Based in […]

The Al Mamzar Beach development project will include several night-swimming areas

Dubai’s $109m Al Mamzar Beach project to open in 2025

Dubai Municipality has awarded contracts for the AED400 million ($108.9 million) Al Mamzar Beach development project, set to open by the end of this year. The second phase focuses on upgrading the Al Mamzar Corniche beachfront and a focus on sustainable beach tourism, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. Spread across 125,000 sq m […]

The number of keys in Dubai stood at 153,390 in 828 hotels at the end of November 2024, compared to 149,685 in 820 hotels a year ago

Foreign tourists in Dubai hit 17m in 11 months of 2024

International tourist arrivals to Dubai rose by 9 percent to 16.8 million in the first 11 months of 2024, compared to 15.4 million during the same period in 2023, according to official data. Western Europe remained the top source region, accounting for 3.3 million visitors, or 20 percent of the total, the UAE state-run Wam […]

It is not yet clear if the expanded Smart Rental Index will include malls as well as commercial and industrial properties

Rental index in Dubai expands to commercial properties

Dubai is to expand its Smart Rental Index to include commercial and industrial properties, a move that could serve as a catalyst for landlords to improve poor maintenance standards in neglected buildings, industry experts said. Majid Al Marri, CEO of real estate registration and services at Dubai Land Department, told AGBI at the launch of […]

Dubai alcohol tax

Dubai distributors to swallow 30% tax on alcohol brands

Dubai’s two main alcohol distributors have promised to absorb most, and in some cases all, of the 30 percent tax that was reinstated on alcoholic drinks from January 1. The Dubai Municipality tax on alcoholic beverages was suspended from the start of 2023, continuing into 2024. It was widely seen as an attempt to make […]

The new system is designed to reduce disputes between tenants and landlords

New rental index for Dubai to curb rises and disputes

A new residential rental index to help tame a property market strained by soaring rents and landlord-tenant disputes has been unveiled in Dubai. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) launched the Smart Rental Index on Thursday. The tool regulates rent increases by tying adjustments to individual property and building ratings, replacing a district-based model that grouped […]

Dubai duty free recorded 20.733 million sales transactions in 2024, an average of 56,649 per day

Dubai Duty Free sales stay flat in 2024

Dubai Duty Free achieved sales of AED7.9 billion ($2.16 billion) in 2024, almost exactly equalling its 2023 performance. December set an all-time monthly record, however, with sales of AED821.94 million, a 2 percent year-on-year increase and the highest in the retailer’s history, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported. The December performance was fuelled by […]

Chefs prepare food in a Dubai restaurant, where the sector is said to be close to saturation point

Gulf restaurants urged to keep it local

Restaurant operators and investors in the Gulf should open local, authentic outlets rather than imported high-end brands, experts say.  Saudi Arabia, where government-backed initiatives seek to double the number of restaurants, “is definitely a growth market”, according to Duncan Fraser-Smith, CEO of Craft Hospitality Group. But the establishment needs to suit the location. Craft turned […]

The approval of the tranches will allow Shuaa to grow at its full potential, said CEO Wafik Ben Mansour

Shuaa Capital reaches final phase of restructuring plan

Dubai-listed investment bank Shuaa Capital has reached the final phase of its restructuring plan with the approval of two mandatory convertible bond tranches of up to AED425.5 million ($115.85 million). The first tranche, valued at up to AED150 million, will be offered to existing shareholders through a private placement, with mandatory conversion into shares at […]

Dubai has broken up money laundering operations worth almost $175 million

Dubai busts global money laundering gangs

Dubai has broken up two major international networks conducting money laundering operations worth a total of AED641 million ($174.5 million). The Dubai Public Prosecution referred an Emirati national, 21 British nationals, two Americans, a Czech national, and two companies owned by the Emirati national to the Criminal Court of First Instance at Dubai Courts. The […]

Gold Souk, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Middle East

Gulf jewellery sales suffer from gold’s rich streak

High gold prices amid widespread geopolitical uncertainty have dented jewellery sales in the Middle East this year. The trend is expected to continue in 2025. India’s sharp reduction of gold import duties in July, from 15 percent to 6 percent, boosted domestic sales but hit Middle Eastern merchants, according to industry insiders.  “After a weak […]

Expo City

Expo City races to cope with Dubai’s population surge

Expo City Dubai, the legacy site of the World Expo 2020, is gearing up for a big construction drive in 2025, with plans to issue tenders for residential, commercial and infrastructure projects to meet rapid population growth, a senior official has said. Ahmed Al Khatib, chief development and delivery officer at Expo City Dubai, told […]

Residences on Palm Jumeirah island in Dubai. It is hoped tokenisation will encourage a new type of real-estate investor

Dubai targets broader real-estate access with tokens

Dubai plans to widen access to the real-estate sector by allowing tokenisation, which converts real-estate assets into digital tokens on a blockchain. This will enable the fractional ownership of properties, which in theory will attract more retail and institutional investors, a senior official in the emirate’s real estate regulator has said. Fractional ownership allows investors […]

The Dubai bourse has levelled from its 10-year peak but experts expect it remain steady in 2025

Expect a more subdued Dubai bourse in 2025

Following a stellar 2024, Dubai’s index is likely to join other Gulf bourses in experiencing a more subdued 2025. Dubai’s growing population, record tourism and trade revenues and a near-doubling of residential property prices since January 2021 helped to propel the emirate’s bourse to a 10-year peak last week. The benchmark has since retreated slightly […]

Growing interest in AI applications has strained existing data centre capacity and fuelled demand for energy

Dubai’s Hodler in global AI data centre partnership

Dubai’s Hodler Investments has partnered with US technology company Vertical Data to launch “sustainable” artificial intelligence data centres in the UAE, the Gulf, Africa and Canada. The companies said they are targeting rising demand for high-performance computing. Growing interest in AI applications has strained existing data centre capacity and fuelled intense demand for energy to […]

Young nervous professional crypto analyst looking at screens and analyzing for day trading or margin trading, altcoin and bitcoin concept

Talabat and Lulu post-listing slump dims allure of UAE IPOs

Talabat and Lulu Retail Holdings were the UAE’s biggest initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2024, raising $3.75 billion amid huge investor demand.  But the stock prices of both companies have slid since listing on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi bourses respectively, threatening investor confidence in future UAE flotations involving privately run companies. It has also […]