Search results

Two days before his favoured son Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) was due to launch his Vision 2030 for the kingdom, King Salman issued a royal decree relieving electricity and water minister Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman Al-Hussein of his duties. Agriculture minister Abdulrahman Bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli will run the portfolio on an interim basis, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on 23 April.

Saudi Ports Authority (SPA), which runs nine ports around the kingdom, is being lined up for possible privatisation, according to a 1 March report in online news service Middle East Economic Digest (MEED). Citing unnamed bankers, it said the government was considering restructuring SPA, possibly along the lines of Dubai’s DP World. Such a move would allow it to raise funds on the debt market or to list shares on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

More than 1,000 exhibitors from 61 countries turned up to the 8-12 November Dubai Airshow, which reflected in its global status to show off some 150 aircraft on the tarmac, from agile drones made by Abu Dhabi-based Adcom Systems all the way up to lumbering Airbus A380s decked out in the liveries of Dubai’s Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways. So far, so normal: what was unusual was the lack of big new orders. Abu Dhabi-based national UAE airline Etihad Airways exercised options for two Boeing 777 freighters, but that was part of an order for 199 planes announced in 2013.

In a 6 February operational update, UK-based Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) said it would suspend crude oil exports via truck from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) region, and restart supplying the domestic market as a short-term measure to get badly needed revenues. The statement confirmed trucking would restart once a regular payment cycle for sales was established with the KRG. Anglo-Turkish Genel Energy and Oslo-listed DNO have also announced plans to increase sales in the local market.

Qatar Airways (QA) has acquired a 9.99% stake in International Airlines Group (IAG), the owner of British Airways (BA) and Spanish flag carrier Iberia, QA said on 30 January. The deal, worth about $1.7bn, represents a push westward for the Qatari airline, which is now the largest shareholder of IAG. In a statement, QA said that it “may consider increasing its stake further over time”, although it had no plans to do so at the moment. Non-European Union (EU) shareholders are only allowed to own up to 49% of EU airlines.

Several countries suspended flights to and from Baghdad International Airport on 26 January after bullets hit a flydubai passenger plane during landing, slightly damaging the fuselage and causing minor wounds to a six-year-old girl. An airport source told GSN Turkish Airlines, Royal Jordanian and Middle East Airlines had resumed flights, and that UAE and other Gulf airlines planned to do so on 5 February.

The Central Tender Committee (CTC) announced on 3 November that a consortium of Kuwait-based Kharafi National (KN) and Turkish conglomerate Limak Holding had submitted the lowest bid – worth KD1.39bn ($4.76bn) – for a contract to build a new terminal at Kuwait International Airport. Other bids ranged up to KD1.7bn; the CTC said they had been referred to the Ministry of Public Works for a final recommendation. The news was a positive step for the terminal project, which was delayed in June after companies bidding for the construction contract pulled out of the tender process.

The UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been questioning current and former Airbus Group employees in connection with possible corruption at GPT Special Project Management (GPT), a subsidiary of Airbus, in relation to its Saudi contracts. Airbus, previously known as EADS, said in a statement to media that it “understands that four former and current employees were recently interviewed – along with MoD [British Ministry of Defence] officials – as part of a wide-ranging SFO investigation into subsidiary GPT”.

The big three airlines of the Gulf – Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways – have become global brands thanks to massive investments in modern aircraft fleets and ever-widening route networks. The particulars of their business models may vary, but all three ultimately rely on having hubs in the Gulf through which they funnel huge numbers of passengers onto connecting flights. But the airlines are now at risk of becoming victims of their own success. Their growth, coupled with the proliferation of other new airlines over the past decade, means the Gulf’s skies are in danger of becoming so overcrowded that delays become routine.

The first phase of Doha’s new and much delayed airport, Hamad International Airport, opened on 30 April, welcoming passengers of a handful of airlines, with others – including Qatar Airways – to make the switch from Doha International Airport on 27 May. The airport has been in the works since at least 2004 and was originally due to open in 2009; a litany of problems – including frequently changing plans for parts of the site and interior decoration, the centralisation of decision-making and the mistreatment of contractors – caused the delays to a project which is valued at between £11bn-$17.5bn.

While they continue to grapple with the tough economic climate, Iranians who can still afford to travel by air will at least be heartened by the US treasury department’s decision to allow Boeing to sell spare aircraft parts to Iran, and for General Electric (GE) to overhaul old jet engines. But even this apparently simple gesture is complex and shrouded in some mystery.For a start, the waiver only covers equipment sold to Iran before the 1979 revolution. In most countries, these planes and engines would have been retired long ago, but Iran has not been able to buy enough replacements so the need for repairs and spare parts remains.

Dubai International Airport has seen more passengers in the past three months than London Heathrow, as it continues its move up the ranks of the world’s busiest airports. In February 2014, Dubai reported 5.7m passengers against Heathrow’s 4.9m, while January saw 6.4m against Heathrow’s 5.4m and December 6m against Heathrow’s 5.8m. Preliminary annual figures for 2013 from the Airports Council International (ACI) released on 31 March showed Dubai in seventh position worldwide, from tenth the year before, with Atlanta retaining its spot as the world’s busiest airport, Beijing in second and Heathrow in third.

Dubai’s Emirates airline set a new record on the first day of the Dubai Airshow with the announcement it was placing orders worth an estimated $99bn. Emirates will purchase 250 Boeing 777Xs (comprising 35 Boeing 777-8Xs and 115 Boeing 777-9Xs), plus 50 purchase rights, an order valued at $76bn – making it the single largest aircraft order by value in the history of US commercial aviation. In a separate deal worth $23bn, Emirates, which is chaired by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al-Maktoum (uncle of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum), ordered 50 Airbus A380 aircraft.

Qatar Airways (QA) is to launch domestic operations in Saudi Arabia in H1 2014, under the name Al Maha Airways. Chief executive Akbar Al-Baker told Reuters at the Dubai Airshow on 18 November that the airline would start with the main Saudi cities, including Riyadh and Jeddah, and then move to the second-tier cities. The project has been in the pipeline for well over a year. QA and Gulf Air each won a domestic carrier licence late in 2012 (GSN 939/15, 929/12, 927/13), the first foreign airlines to win such a licence for what is potentially a highly lucrative market.

The Saudi authorities have signed five contracts worth $300m to build infrastructure facilities in the industrial cities of Yanbu, Jubail and Ras Al-Khair, according to Construction Week. The contracts, signed by chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu Prince Saud Bin Abdullah Bin Thunayan, include one for a security system for Jubail-2, and another for the construction of roads, water and sewage networks for Ras Al-Khair.