Bloomberg London Stansted airport, best known as Europe’s biggest discount hub, joined the major leagues with a first flight by Mideast giant Emirates and said it aims to add 30 more long-haul routes within five years. A catchment area that includes Cambridge, England — the focus for Britain’s technology and pharmaceutical sectors — as well as London’s City and Canary ...

Bloomberg Hainan Airlines Holding Co. is seeking to sell shares listed in Shanghai to investors including a unit of Singapore’s sovereign investment fund Temasek Holdings Pte, according to a statement to the stock exchange Saturday. The air carrier said it plans to raise as much as 7 billion yuan ($1.09 billion) by selling as much as 20 percent of its ...

Bloomberg Air France labour unions called for a strike from June 23 to 26, reigniting a costly labour conflict at the height of the busy summer travel season. Workers will strike unless an agreement is found to end the dispute in coming days, the unions said in an emailed statement after meeting with management of parent Air France-KLM. The decision ...

Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. is going after its rivals’ best customers by matching the elite-flyer status of some passengers on other US carriers. Members of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards loyalty program who prove upper-tier standing at other airlines will be upgraded to the carrier’s “A-List” for 90 days. Those who qualify can earn an additional 12 months on the list by ...

Bloomberg The world’s biggest furniture retailer is figuring out how to pursue ambitious climate goals without losing out economically. Ikea, the Swedish company known for making smart, inexpensive furniture that stands little chance of becoming a family heirloom, wants people to hold on to its pieces for longer. To that end, the company intends to broaden the services it provides ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE has ranked 30th in the world in terms of a nation’s ability to attract foreign direct investment in 2017, up five places from 2016. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), ‘World Investment Report 2018’, FDI to the UAE rose by eight percent to $10.4 billion in part due to rising ...

DUBAI / WAM The UAE Government has launched the 2nd phase of the customer happiness formula that includes the assessment of 250 electronic and smart services provided by different federal government departments. Ohoud bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing, said, “customer happiness formula is one of the comprehensive initiatives to develop government services and build ...

DUBAI / WAM DMCC welcomed Islamic Bank of Afghanistan as the newest member of its DMCC Tradeflow platform, a dedicated online platform for registering possession and ownership of commodities stored in UAE-based storage facilities. The collaboration will enable the bank to carry out Sharia-compliant Murabaha transactions using DMCC platform to take multi-currency trades from across the globe. DMCC Tradeflow has ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) events accounted for a record AED12.7 billion ($3.46 billion) in retained value towards Dubai’s economy, equivalent to 3.3 percent of emirate’s GDP in 2017, according to the latest Economic Impact Assessment report released by DWTC. The study estimates the total economic output of DWTC’s large-scale events at AED22.5 billion, an increase of ...

DUBAI / WAM The Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA) signed an agreement with DP World in Dubai to build a strategic relationship and support the UN World Data Forum 2018. Hosted by the UAE in October 2018, the second edition of the forum will see the participation of more than 1,500 leaders, decision-makers, experts and specialists in the field ...