New York / Bloomberg You are now free to enjoy your in-flight entertainment, uninterrupted. The world’s largest airline, American Airlines Group Inc., plans to stop on-board announcements of connecting gate information as flights prepare to land. The change, effective May 17, is a concession that technology has rendered the announcements moot, as passengers now travel equipped with an array ...

Tokyo / Bloomberg Aircastle Ltd. and its Japanese partner are planning to purchase as many as 10 new narrow-body jets in deals with airlines as the lessor bets on growing demand for travel in Asia. The jets may cost as much as $400 million, Chief Executive Officer Ron Wainshal said in an interview in Tokyo Tuesday. Stamford, Connecticut-based Aircastle formed ...

  Alkesh Sharma / Emirates Business Fuelled by a booming construction sector, the GCC region’s interior and fit-out contracting industry is expected to grow by nearly 20 percent and the market expected to cross the whopping mark of $12.5 billion by the end of 2017. UAE is clearly spearheading this market in the region and is expected to add more ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, has launched a report on the ‘State of SME Equity Investment in Dubai,’ the first initiative of its kind in the Gulf region, to encourage investment in the sector and attract direct ...

    Dubai / Emirates Business A delegation from Smart Dubai Office (SDO) led by H.E. Dr. Aisha Bint Butti Bin Bishr, Director General of SDO, is exerting more efforts to form business partnership by showcasing its smart transformation roadmap to the founding strategic partners of the smart city transformation process. The delegation visited Dubai Land Department (DLD) to discuss ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Mergermarket, the world’s leading news and intelligence service for mergers & acquisitions, has released its Global M&A Heat Chart that indicates potential future M&A activity based on companies that may be targeted for mergers or acquisitions. The Heat Chart suggests that the Middle East’s Telecoms, Media & Technology (TMT) sector could see the strongest levels ...

  Reuters Saudi Arabia’s largest lender by assets, National Commercial Bank (NCB), plans to expand overseas, growing its Turkey franchise while exploring new markets including Malaysia, Indonesia and Egypt, its chairman said. The move could break the mould of the kingdom’s banking sector, which hosts a range of large and well-capitalised financial institutions but which have traditionally focused on serving ...

  Bloomberg Australia & New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group Ltd. is getting rid of about 200 jobs in its Australian unit as lending growth slows in a subdued economy. The reductions will be largely in Melbourne and affect managerial and back-office roles in areas such as marketing and project management, Melbourne-based spokesman Stephen Ries said in an e-mail on Tuesday. ...

  REUTERS BSI SA, the Swiss bank embroiled in global probes into 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (MDB), is investigating employees and their dealings related to the embattled Malaysian state investment fund, according to people familiar with the matter. One of the employees the private bank is investigating in Singapore is Kevin Swampillai, the manager of the first banker to be charged ...

  Cairo / Reuters National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the country’s largest state bank, sold 1.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($169 million) worth of special certificates that were launched in March to attract foreign currency into the banking system, its deputy chairman said. NBE was one of three state banks to launch the certificates on March 14, the day Egypt’s central ...