Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways will debut its innovative mobile exhibition unit at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, providing delegates with a first-hand experience of its award-winning cabin products and inflight service. The 16m long mobile exhibition unit, weighing approximately 22 tonnes and measuring 50m², travelled to the UAE from Europe where it has clocked 60,000km ...
Read More »SriLankan Airlines to boost presence in Middle East
Dubai / Emirates Business SriLankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld airline alliance, is looking to gain further impetus from the Middle East, even as the Indian Ocean island nation increasingly reaps the positive dividends of rapidly growing tourist numbers. The airline will be making fresh forays into the region, which is ...
Read More »United puts off CEO’s added role as chairman
Bloomberg United Airlines cancelled Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz’s expected 2018 elevation to chairman and tied compensation more closely to customer service, after a passenger’s forcible removal from a flight sparked a public-relations disaster. Maintaining an independent chairman “is a means to ensure that Mr. Munoz is able to more exclusively focus on his role as chief executive officer,†...
Read More »WestJet plans ultra-low-cost unit to fight upstarts
Bloomberg Canadian discounter WestJet Airlines Ltd. is arming itself for more fare wars by planning to start an ultra-low-cost carrier to fend off domestic upstarts. Service is expected to begin late this year with a fleet of 10 Boeing Co. 737-800s in ‘high density’ configuration, Calgary-based WestJet said in a statement. The venture will aim to offer “no frills, ...
Read More »Google leads fight to block the march of ad-blockers
Bloomberg After seven months of work, the biggest digital advertising companies think they have a solution to the existential threat of consumers blocking online ads. Google, the biggest player in this world, is at the center of the plan, although the company and its partners are keen to present the initiative as a group effort. The Coalition for Better ...
Read More »Apple hires Google satellite executives for new team
Bloomberg After revolutionizing phones, Apple Inc. is testing self-driving cars and exploring augmented reality. Recent hires suggest the company is now also looking to the skies. The iPhone maker has recruited a pair of top Google satellite executives for a new hardware team, according to people familiar with the matter. John Fenwick, who led Google’s spacecraft operations, and Michael ...
Read More »Disciplining through boxing!
CHITUNGWIZA /Â AP Zimbabwean boys as young as 10 hurry every weekend to a boxing ring whose nickname, Wafa Wafa, in the local Shona language suggests that whoever enters will be lucky to come out alive. No one has died in the ring, let alone suffered serious injury. But the exchanges can be brutal and bleeding is part of the ...
Read More »Mubadala secures $2.5bn PE investment from Ardian
ABU DHABI / WAM Mubadala Capital, the financial investment arm of Mubadala Development Company, on Thursday announced a transaction with Ardian, the independent private investment company. Ardian has committed US$2.5 billion to the transaction through a secondary/primary structure. The secondary component involves Ardian acquiring an interest in an existing Mubadala Capital managed private equity portfolio. The primary component involves ...
Read More »Mid-income housing in focus at Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2017
ABU DHABI / WAM Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2017, the region’s premier real estate forum, has drawn a large number of property developers who displayed a series of products for middle-income segments that secured a massive turnout over the three-day event, concluding today in the UAE capital. Up to 100 companies from around 13 world countries are showcasing in excess ...
Read More »TAQA to invest AED1.8bn in 2017
ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA), is generating cash from overseas oil and natural gas operations and plans to sell some higher-cost wells in North America, according to Bloomberg. After a two-year programme to cut expenses, Taqa’s oil and gas businesses in North America and Europe are “cash-flow positive,†Saeed Hamad Al Dhaheri, TAQA Acting ...
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