Transportation

Award of Arabian Canal excavation deal this year

Dubai World's real restate firm Limitless will award its first major excavation contract for the ambitious AED40 billion Arabian Canal project by the middle of this year, a senior official said.

Some 30 international and Gulf-based companies have contacted Limitless to do excavation work for the 75-kilometre waterway, the water depth of which will be six metres.

Green public transport system comes to Qatar in regional first

Solar cars and battery-powered buses will soon make Qatar the first country in the region to have an environmentally-friendly public transport system.

In a bid to cut down on air pollution, government-owned public transport company, Mowasalat, is to replace combustion engines with alternative vehicles propelled by photovoltaic cells and electricity.

Yemen inclusion on GCC railway considered

Provisions have been announced to incorporate Yemen into the Gulf Co-operation Council's railway network initiative. The project's planned route is to run from Iraq, down the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, taking in Kuwait, eastern Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The proposed inclusion of Yemen within the project can be seen as a move to further incorporate the state into the council's projects and is a positive step for the nation in its bid to gain GCC membership.

Gulf Air seals US$6bn deal with Boeing

Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air formalised its US$6 billion deal with aviation major Boeing for the purchase of 16 Boeing Dreamliners with an option for another eight at a ceremony in Washington D.C.

The deal was tipped to give a fillip to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Bahrain and the United States.

News Analysis: Big share of US$50bn investment for Saudi rail network

Saudi Arabia’s all but non-existent rail transport network will be transformed with a raft of projects over the next four years as a national rail system, together with the Kingdom’s seaports, is given priority in an investment spree reportedly worth US$50 billion in the 10-year period 2005–15.

Gulf Air on course for 2010 turnaround

After years of underperformance, Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air is poised to make a profitable turnaround by the end of 2010 stimulating passenger and cargo traffic.

Gulf Air Chief Executive and President Bjorn Naf said: “Gulf Air was the proverbial milking cow that was exploited to the hilt over the years, taking it downhill. It also suffered from lots of other issues due to constant changes in leadership.”

Dubai budget airline to take to the skies in a year

A new low-cost carrier set up by the government of the booming Gulf emirate of Dubai will launch within a year, the airline's new head said. The as-yet unnamed airline will use either Airbus A320/A321s or Boeing B737 single-aisle aircraft for its fleet and will initially operate regional services.

Iraqi Airways adds 50 planes to fleet; cancels Boeing order

Iraqi Airways has announced further additions to its growing fleet but that it had cancelled a contract to purchase four used Boeing jets, according to Dr. Muhammad al-Mousawi, its general director.

To support the company’s growth strategy, the airline has agreed a lease order for 50 aircraft, the first set of which will be delivered in August and October of this year.

Egyptian and Moroccan businesses call for launching shipping lines to facilitate trade

Egyptian and Moroccan businesspeople urged the governments in both countries to speed up establishment of shipping lines between their respective ports to boost trade and investments.

Oman Shipping to spend US$4bn on fleet expansion

Oman's state-owned shipping company aims to spend up to US$4 billion over the next three to four years to expand its fleet size, a senior company official said. Oman Shipping Company (OSC) is looking to grow its shipping fleet mainly to meet the demand for energy transportation, its chief financial officer Kuldeep Mathur stated.