Transport

Some Austrian Airlines owners back Saudi investor

Some key stakeholders in Austrian Airlines voiced support for a major Saudi investor’s bid to buy 150 million euros (US$220.8 million) in shares in the national carrier.

Austrian said earlier this month that intensive negotiations were under way on Mohamed Bin Issa al Jaber’s approach, calling it a strategic investment that would back the airline’s expansion strategy in the Middle East.

NoozzVIEW; Emirates soar upwards

Despite recent warnings that rapidly growing Middle Eastern airlines are finding their ambitious growth plans threatened by increasingly crowded skies and a scarcity of skilled staff, the Dubai-state-owned Emirates has unveiled an ambitious expansion programme that will involve the purchase of 195 new jetliners, almost tripling its current fleet of 113 planes by 2015.

UAE companies to invest US$1 billion in Indonesia

UAE-based Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority and RAK Minerals and Metals Investments (RMMI) will pour more than 1 billion USD into Indonesia’s South Sumatra province in 2008.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed recently with the provincial authorities, the companies will invest in developing an integrated industrial and logistics infrastructure, including a rail transport corridor, and deep water sea port to handle bulk and container cargoes.

Private Syrian airline launches first flight to Baghdad

Syria’s first private sector airline company launched its maiden flight to neighbouring Baghdad this week, a company official said. The flight by “Ajnehat al-Sham,” Arabic for the “Wings of al-Sham,” took off from Damascus International Airport and headed to Baghdad.

DP World to invest US$1.3 bln in Egypt port

Dubai’s DP World plans to invest US$1.3 billion to expand an Egyptian port in the Gulf of Suez it bought last year.

“We have many plans in all fields, but what we can announce now is that we have plans to expand the first shipyard that we have acquired and to add extra length to its dock,” the paper quoted Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem as saying.

Russian Railways wins US$800m contract to build 520 km track in Saudi Arabia

Vladimir Yakunin, head of Russian Railways, said that the contract to build a railroad in Saudi Arabia linking Al Zubairah with King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh mirrors the Kingdom’s solid confidence in Russian engineering. Under contractual terms, Russian Railways will construct a 520km railroad, extend 621 water drainage pipes, 20 camel crossings, 26 tunnels and bridges and build 8 railroad tracks.

Arabs spend US$260 billion on airports upgrade, buying aircraft

An international census estimated growth in the Arab aviation sector at around 12.2 percent, almost threefold the global growth average recorded in 2006. A report published by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) stated that the regional growth rates once again surpassed average growth in the global aviation industry by almost 3.4 percent.