Aviation Mubadala weighs buying stake in Heathrow airport Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company is studying the possibility of acquiring a stake in the UK’s busiest airport, Heathrow, according to a media report. The UAE sovereign wealth fund is weighing an investment after being approached by Paris-based buyout company Ardian, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Discussions are ongoing and no agreements […] February 21, 2024
Logistics Bahraini-Saudi companies to build logistics hub in Riyadh A joint venture between Bahrain-headquartered Arcapita Group Holdings and Saudi developer Rikaz will develop a high-end logistics park in Riyadh to attract global and regional companies. The Node will cover three million sq m of development, with the first phase extending 400,000 sq m of Grade A warehousing facilities. The project is anticipated to generate […] February 21, 2024
Trade DP World Trade Finance goes global after $400m debut year DP World Trade Finance has revealed plans to expand into Turkey this year before opening in a number of other countries. Working with Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), the platform, which launched last year in the UAE, India and South Africa, has already financed more than $400 million of non-oil-based trade. Giving borrowers access to finance, […] February 20, 2024
Aviation Emirates’ catering arm buys out Bustanica vertical farm Emirates Flight Catering, the airline’s catering arm, has bought out US-based Crop One’s interest in the Bustanica hydroponic farm in Dubai, making it a fully UAE-owned business. The farm opened in July 2022 as a joint venture between Emirates Flight Catering and Crop One called Emirates Crop One. The airline catering company says the 330,000 […] February 19, 2024
Transport DXB sets new target for 2024 as it flies past pre-pandemic levels Dubai International (DXB) expects to receive 88.8 million passengers this year, up 2.1 percent from 87 million received last year. The airport’s previous all-time high was 89.1 million passengers in 2018. DXB surpassed Dubai Airports’, the airport operator, yearly forecast and pre-pandemic traffic levels, in 2023. Passenger number increased 32 percent year on year last […] February 19, 2024
Transport Study on $2.6bn Muscat metro to finish this year Oman’s transport minister has confirmed that consultancy studies on the $2.6 billion Muscat metro project are expected to be completed by the end of the year. “The ongoing studies concerning the Muscat Metro are on track for completion by the end of this year,” Times of Oman reported, citing Saeed bin Hamoud bin Saeed Al […] February 19, 2024
Transport Emirates SkyCargo plans service expansion in India Emirates SkyCargo plans to add three new destinations in India by June, an Indian business news daily has reported. “We are looking forward to operating scheduled freighter flights to three additional cities in India,” Nabil Sultan, divisional senior vice-president at the Dubai-based company, told The Hindu Business Line. The three destinations were not disclosed. Emirates […] February 19, 2024
Transport Bahri starts work on logistics centre at Jeddah Islamic Port Work on a logistics centre at Jeddah Islamic Port has been started by National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), as part of the government’s drive to boost non-oil exports. Bahri Logistics Centre is expected to be operational in the first half of 2025 and offer storage and handling capabilities with more than 80,000 pallet positions, […] February 19, 2024
Logistics Expansion of Jeddah Islamic Port complete The Saudi ports authority said this week it had completed a SAR1 billion ($270 million) expansion of Jeddah Islamic Port as tensions in the Red Sea continue. The project to deepen and expand the northern container terminal in Jeddah, to be operated by the Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) company, more than doubles capacity from 700,000 […] February 16, 2024
Aviation Flydubai expands in Europe with four new routes Dubai low-cost airline Flydubai has launched four new services to expand its European network to 43 destinations in 21 countries. The carrier will be the first UAE airline to operate direct flights to EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, starting August 2. Flydubai is also marking its first entry into the Baltic region with direct flights to Riga International Airport […] February 16, 2024
Opinion Aviation EgyptAir must make some tough choices The national carrier is being battered by the competition and needs a recovery strategy February 15, 2024
Aviation Oman Air 2023 losses down 25% on higher ticket sales State-owned Oman Air cut its losses by a quarter in 2023 as it streamlined expenditure and improved ticket sales, chairman Said Hamoud Al Ma’awali said. The airline is expected to see “good growth” in its financial performance by 2026 under its four-year transformation plan, state-run Oman News Agency reported, citing the top executive. No other […] February 15, 2024
Logistics Adnoc logistics subsidiary profit up 138% Adnoc Logistics and Services (L&S) reported a 138 percent year on year increase in net profit to AED2.3 billion ($620 million) as all its business segments continued to perform strongly. Revenues at Adnoc’s logistics subsidiary rose 41 percent year on year to $2.8 billion, particularly aided by the integrated logistics division, Adnoc L&S said in a […] February 15, 2024
Exclusive Aviation Etihad outsources flights as airlines grapple with jet shortage Etihad Airways has engaged charter airlines to operate its flights on at least two key routes, as it accelerates the expansion of its network. Spanish carrier Wamos Air is operating two wide-bodied Airbus A330 jets under Etihad flight numbers on the Abu Dhabi-Jakarta route, while Hi Fly Malta is deploying an Etihad-numbered A330 on daily […] February 15, 2024
Aviation Air Arabia remains upbeat despite profit drop in Q4 Air Arabia remains optimistic about the future of low-cost air travel despite reporting a drop in profit in the last quarter of 2023. Based in Sharjah, the no-frills airline reported a net profit of AED225 million ($61 million) in the fourth quarter of 2023, down 37 percent year on year in the last three months […] February 14, 2024
EXCLUSIVE Aviation Etihad predicts ‘remarkable’ year after profitable 2023 Etihad Airways has told staff that it made a profit last year, helped by “milestone” revenues of $5.5 billion, and is expecting a “remarkable” performance in 2024, AGBI has learned. In an internal memo sent on January 25, which followed a presentation by chief executive Antonoaldo Neves, the company predicted that revenues would reach $6.5 […] February 13, 2024
Opinion Aviation Africa, the next frontier for Gulf airlines The Middle East is the natural gateway between Africa and Asia February 12, 2024
Markets Investcorp lines up diverse strategies for east and west Multibillion-dollar asset manager Investcorp Capital is planning listing activity from its companies in the east in the next six months, but sees more profit in mergers and acquisitions in the west. The Bahrain-based company, which was listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange in November, on Monday reported income of $34 million for the first […] February 12, 2024
Transport Dubai to have flying taxi services by early 2025 New York Stock Exchange-listed Joby Aviation plans to soft launch air taxi services in Dubai by early 2025. The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft maker signed an agreement with Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA), which gives it the exclusive right to operate air taxis in the emirate for six years The operation of […] February 12, 2024
Logistics Aramex Q4 2023 profit more than doubles to $21m Dubai-listed logistics company Aramex said net profit more than doubled to AED 76.78 million ($20.90 million) in the fourth quarter of 2023 from AED33.86 million a year ago. The company reported a marginal one percent year-on-year decline in Q4 2023 revenue to AED1.52 billion, despite challenging market conditions and currency fluctuations. “Q4 2023 has proven to be exceptional, marked by record […] February 9, 2024
Business of Sport Emirates airline signs big US basketball sponsorship deal Emirates, the Dubai airline, has signed a sponsorship deal with the National Basketball Association in the United States that will see the NBA’s in-season tournament renamed the Emirates NBA Cup. Emirates will become the association’s official airline partner and referees’ kits will feature the airline’s logo. The airline’s patch will also be featured on the […] February 8, 2024
Opinion Logistics Digitalisation is just the tonic for regional shipping’s ills SMEs require nimbler, AI-powered transportation options to drive growth February 8, 2024
