ADNOC awards Austria’s OMV 5% stake
The Abu Dhabi government and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) have awarded Austria’s OMV a five per cent stake in the Ghasha ultra-sour gas concession that comprises the Hail, Ghasha, Dalma, Nasr, Sarb and Mubarraz sour gas fields.
OMV, which joins Italy’s Eni and Germany’s Wintershall as Adnoc’s partners in the concession, will contribute five per cent of the project capital and operational development expenses. Eni was awarded a 25 per cent stake and Wintershall a 10 per cent stake in the Ghasha concession in November. The concession agreement, which has a term of 40 years, was signed by Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO, and Dr. Rainer Seele, chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of OMV.
“This long-term strategic agreement with OMV, as well as the other Ghasha concession agreements we have concluded recently, underscores Adnoc’s commitment to maximising value from Abu Dhabi’s substantial gas resources and to ensuring a sustainable and economic supply of gas, in line with the leadership’s directives. The combination of rising demand for gas, more advanced technology and our industry-leading experience in developing sour gas fields, makes it possible for us to commercially and holistically unlock value from our vast sour gas resources,” said Dr. Al Jaber.
“This agreement builds on, and extends, our strong partnership with OMV, who we collaborate with in key areas across the oil and gas value chain. They bring extensive experience in sour gas operations, in Austria and Pakistan, and, like Adnoc, have a proven record working with mature and complex reservoirs. It will help ensure our investment, in the Ghasha concession, will maximize long-term returns for the benefit of ourselves, our partners and the nation,” he said.
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Asian cup trophy travels aboard Emirates, arrives in Dubai
Emirates, the official airline partner of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 has flown the iconic AFC Asian Cup trophy to Dubai ahead of the much-anticipated AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
The AFC Asian Cup trophy travelled from Tokyo, making a stop in Hong Kong and continuing on EK 383 before arriving in Dubai.
The AFC Asian Cup is the most prestigious national team event in Asia and one of the most widely viewed sporting events in the world.
It is being held on UAE soil for the first time since 1996. Emirates has been the Official Airline and Partner of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) since 2002, and has sponsorship rights to all its tournaments, including the AFC Champions League, AFC Cup and the AFC Asian Cup, as well as a number of women’s and youth events.
The airline, which also sponsors some of the world’s biggest sporting events and clubs, aims to connect with people with their love for sports, and in this case, through football during the highly anticipated tournament.
Adel Al Redha, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Emirates said: “We are delighted with our partnership with the AFC and the upcoming tournament will provide a great opportunity to connect with football fans in our home, the UAE, as well as audiences across Asia who are cheering on their national teams.
“We are keen to take a major role in connecting cities through our network and bring football fans to the event and experience the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in real-time. We also aim to further support the UAE’s status as a world-class sports hub and a centre for international sporting events.”
The AFC Asian Cup trophy has been specially designed by world-renowned silversmiths and will replace the old trophy that has been in use since the first tournament in 1956. The trophy, which was unveiled at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Final Draw in Dubai in May, is inspired by the lotus flower, which symbolises peace throughout Asia, and the five petals represent the five Regional Associations under the AFC.
Emirates operates an extensive network in Asia, and flies to 16 of the 24 participating countries in the AFC Asian Cup. Every participating nation is represented by their local communities that reside in the multi-national and multi-cultural melting pot that is the UAE, and the airline will be engaging with many of these communities through a number of initiatives as they prepare to rally and support their national teams over the course of the four week tournament.
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UAE budget airline Flydubai adds new Indian city; return fare starts from Dh670
Dubai-based flydubai has announced the launch of direct flights to Kozhikode in Kerala, India.
The three times weekly service from Dubai International (DXB) to Kozhikode Calicut International Airport (CCJ) will start from February 1, 2019 making flydubai the only Dubai-based carrier to operate this route.
Business Class return fares to Kozhikode from Dubai start from Dh2,659 (Rs54,075), while Economy Class return fares to Dubai start from Dh670 (Rs13,000).
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai commenting on the new announcement: “We have always been proud of the strong ties between India and the UAE. We have seen a stronger flow of trade and tourism between the two countries over the past few years. In 2017, India became the first source market to top 2 million annual visitors representing an impressive 15 per cent year-on-year increase in total number of visitors to Dubai. We are grateful for the support we have received from the Indian authorities and we remain committed to serving the market. We look forward to more opportunities to strengthen the airlinks between the two countries in the future,” added Al Ghaith.
Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President, Commercial (UAE, GCC, Subcontinent and Africa) at flydubai, said: “we are pleased to add Kozhikode to our network of eight destinations in India, offering greater connectivity and an unrivalled travel experience to our passengers in India. The new route will provide more passengers from India with access to Dubai and beyond via its aviation hub together with the new codeshare agreement.”
Passengers travelling to and from Kozhikode will have the option to experience our Business Class service, benefiting from priority check-in service, comfortable spacious seats and a range of dining options. Passengers travelling in Economy Class are able to choose between bundled (Flex/Value) or unbundled (Lite) fares depending on their travel needs.
Kozhikode, formerly known as Calicut, is a prosperous trading town and known as the ‘City of Spices’. Along with its flourishing trade, the city is nestled between the Arabian sea and the Wayanad Hills. Its serene beaches, green countryside and rich history make it a fascinating destination for travellers.
As part of the Emirates flydubai partnership announced in 2017, Emirates will codeshare on this route. For bookings under the codeshare, Emirates passengers will receive complimentary meals and the Emirates checked baggage allowance on flights operated by flydubai in Economy class. With the partnership, passengers from India will have an opportunity to travel via Dubai to hundreds of destinations all over the world.
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9-Year-old becomes Dubai airport’s billionth passenger
Following the official announcement earlier on Thursday from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai Airports and representatives from across the aviation sector and the emirate of Dubai gave the airport’s billionth warm welcome to nine-year-old Arjun and his family who arrived this morning from Orlando, Florida on Emirates flight EK220.
At a celebration held at Dubai airport, Arjun along with his mother Ramya, father Venkatesh and thirteen-year-old brother Varun, were personally greeted by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airports and warmly welcomed on this, their first visit to Dubai.
They were also delighted with details of an unforgettable and surprising set of experiences that showcase Dubai’s longstanding reputation for excitement, luxury and modern Arabic hospitality, organised for the next few days of their trip.
At the airport this afternoon, Sheikh Ahmed said; “This landmark billionth passenger achievement is the result of team work and collaboration, and special thanks goes out to each and every member of the airport community who have played a role in this journey.”
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UAE airline offers new non-stop flights to Europe
Dubai-based airline flydubai has announced the start of flights to Budapest in Hungary and Naples in Italy.
flydubai will operate up to five flights a week to Naples from June 4, 2019, becoming the first UAE carrier to offer direct flights.
Daily flights to Budapest will start on June 27, 2019 and will be in addition to the current service offered by Emirates. Emirates will codeshare on both routes and further illustrates the strength of the partnership which aims to provide more options for travel to passengers. Both routes will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB).
Commenting on the launch, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said: “We are delighted to be launching flights to Budapest and Naples. These destinations provide our passengers with more choice on our network while reaffirming our commitment to the vision set by us to create free flows of tourism and strengthen direct airlinks with the UAE.”
Naples is one of the largest cities in Italy and is home to a wealth of cultural attractions, great food and the beautiful Amalfi coastline. Budapest, which is situated on both banks of the Danube river, combines impressive architecture with numerous museums, galleries and its famous thermal baths.
“Budapest and Naples are important centres for commerce, trade and industry and are incredibly popular leisure destinations, especially during the summer,” said Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce for flydubai. “Making these destinations more accessible to travellers looking for new places to explore will undoubtedly stimulate traffic flows and tourism. These new routes provide those in Hungary and Italy with the opportunity to explore Dubai and beyond on our network.”
To offer passengers more comfort and an enhanced travel experience, flydubai will operate the new routes on the brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8. The new cabin offering features a flat-bed in Business Class and in addition to the extra space and privacy, passengers can sleep comfortably during their flight.
Economy Class offers new RECARO seats, which are designed to optimise space and comfort, so passengers can sit back, relax and enjoy their flight. flydubai also offers exceptional inflight entertainment with a full HD, 11.6-inch screen, featuring a wide selection of movies, TV shows, music and games in English, Arabic and Russian.
flydubai’s route network in Europe currently includes 24 points in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Macedonia (FYROM), Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine.
As part of the Emirates flydubai partnership, each airlines’ passengers will have the opportunity to connect in Dubai to hundreds of destinations across the world. For bookings under the codeshare, Emirates passengers receive complimentary meals and the Emirates checked baggage allowance on flights operated by flydubai in Business and Economy classes.
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Dubai issues 1,748 new licences in November
The Business Registration and Licensing (BRL) sector in the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai issued 1,748 new licences during November 2018.
Among the new licences issued, 62.3 per cent were commercial, 35.2 per cent professional, 1.3 per cent related to tourism and 1.2 per cent industry.
The ‘Business Map’ digital platform of the DED saw 23,979 business registration and licensing transactions being completed during November.
During November, the number of trade name reservations was 3,037, while the number of initial approvals reached 2,265, and the number of commercial permits reached 2,283. The BRL also issued 136 instant licences. The Business Map showed that licence renewal accounted for 11,156 transactions during November, while 4,979 transactions were related to auto renewal via text messages.
The report also showed that the top nationalities who secured licences in November 2018 were India, followed by Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, China, Saudi Arabia, Britain, Jordan, Sudan and the Philippines.
The outsourced service centres of DED issued 17,399 transactions, a growth of 72.5 per cent of the total BRL transactions issued in November.
The report highlighted the distribution of the new licences during November according to the main areas in Dubai, with Bur Dubai accounting for the largest share at 915, followed by Deira at 831 and Hatta with 2. The top sub-regions that accounted for 52.7 per cent of all transactions were the Burj Khalifa at 12.4 per cent, Port Saeed at 10 per cent and Al Marar at 4.6 per cent.
Trade & repair services accounted for 36.9 per cent of the new licences issued in November, according to the distribution of economic activities, followed by real estate, leasing & business services at 22.4 per cent, building & construction at 14.7 per cent, community & personal services at 10.4 per cent, hotels group at 4.9 per cent, transport, storage & communications at three per cent.