Up front I should declare some interest in this story as I worked for GEMS in 2007 and 2008. Now a decade later the long-muted GEMS Education IPO is a little closer to reality. The Financial Times is reporting that GEMS … Continue reading
On the opening day of the 2017 Dubai Airshow Emirates placed a commitment (not an order) for 40 Boeing 787-10 series airliners. Sir Tim Clark insisted that the airplane fits naturally into the airline’s fleet plans. Which is a bit strange … Continue reading
As the Gulf nations dispute is well into its fourth month it is clear that there is no end in sight – unless one side backs down with an enormous loss of face. Instead this dispute could drag on for … Continue reading
It was Dubai’s Cityscape Global property show last week. Global sounds impressive. But it is not really a global show. It is a show promoting the UAE’s developers and their property developments in the UAE. So let me relate a … Continue reading
Etihad Airways today reported a $1.9bn loss for 2016, as the company added “one off impairment” charges related to writedowns in aircraft and financial assets and to fuel hedging losses. The Abu Dhabi carrier swung from a $103m profit in … Continue reading
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries that have cut ties to Qatar issued a strong list of demands on Thursday, insisting that Qatar close the Al-Jazeera tv network, cut back diplomatic ties to Iran and sever all ties with the Muslim … Continue reading
This picture was posted today on twitter by @FODavidV – an A380 first officer at Emirates. I hope he will not mind me making use of his picture. It is interesting because ten years ago almost none of the high … Continue reading
The Economist has a sensible piece this week on the current feud in the Gulf and the potential for escalation. It is hard to see any early resolution to this dispute – and without an early resolution some form of … Continue reading
On Monday morning the big four Gulf partners, KSA, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt turned on our neighbour, Qatar. Qatar is the local minnow. Diplomatic ties have been terminated. Airspace and territorial waters have been closed to Qatari owned transport. And … Continue reading
Times are hard at Emirates – so what does the airline do – it announces a 1600% price increase for its on board wifi! Currently all passengers can access !)MB of wifi for free. And for US$1 (which is donated … Continue reading
