Transport

Bahrain: Building bridges

Bahrain is moving full steam ahead with building, upgrading and expanding several key transportation hubs. Although the credit crunch is slated to cause some completion dates to be revised, the year 2009 will mark a milestone for the country's primary infrastructure projects. Construction activity on the Qatar-Bahrain Bridge is due to begin by the end of this month, according to a spokesperson from the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway Foundation, a joint government body overseeing the bridge's construction. Billed as the world's longest marine causeway, the "Friendship Causeway" - estimated at a total cost of US$3 billion - is being touted as one of the most important infrastructure projects in the region.

Bahrain carrier has fleet plan to narrow gulf with its rivals

Gulf Air is close to leasing four new Boeing 777s from another airline, as it seeks to reposition the carrier as a growth business with a modern fleet. The Bahrain-owned airline plans to put the new planes into service on its European routes from March 1, complementing a fleet renewal programme that spans orders for 35 Airbus aircraft and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Middle East shipping to ride out the storm

The shipping industry worldwide faces stormy weather but the global economic crisis could turn into an opportunity for the Middle East, according to the organisers of the region's biggest maritime trade show. "The Middle East is by no means immune from the difficulties afflicting the world but that doesn't mean the region's maritime industry will not benefit in the medium term," said Christopher Hayman, Chairman of Seatrade, organisers of the Seatrade Middle East Maritime exhibition and conference which concluded in Dubai last month. "In a financial crisis, new opportunities emerge and I firmly believe the Middle East shipping industry will continue to consolidate and grow in the future," he added.

Turkish bus company launches transportation services in Istanbul-Kirkuk line

As relations between Turkey and northern Iraq begin to heal, a bus company has started travelling between Istanbul and Kirkuk. Although there are only a limited number of buses travelling, knowing there is way to travel is believed to have made people feel closer to one another. The buses carry Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish people who want to visit family, relatives and friends in Istanbul. The buses, owned by a company based in the southeastern city of Mardin, currently travel twice a week. Although the trip is long and difficult, it is as popular as flight tickets to Kirkuk from Istanbul, which cost around US$500 while the bus trip costs US$130.

NoozzVIEW; Air Arabia looks to silver lining

When the UAE’s first no frills airline, Sharjah-based Air Arabia first took to the skies over the Gulf in 2003, there were many sceptical voices claiming that the luxury-obsessed region would never take to budget flying. But now that the ramifications of the credit crunch have begun to bite and business confidence is shrinking along with declining oil prices, at least one Gulf-based business model has claims to have found a silver lining in the economic cloud. Should that prove true, the UAE stands in a strong position to benefit as in the middle of next year, Air Arabia is due to be joined by another low cost local rival, Flydubai, which is being launched to complement the full-cost service of the successful and more conventional, Emirates airline.

NoozzVIEW; Mixed week for Iraq's aviation industry

As Iraq, more than most countries in the Middle East, struggles to come to terms with the implications of the transfer of power in Washington, its battered airline industry, which is struggling against the odds to return to some form of normality, has had a week of distinctly mixed news which represents the roller coaster ride it can expect in the months ahead. On the positive side, Iraq and its once dominant national airline, Iraq Airways have finally put an end to a damaging and long-running irritant to the future, by agreeing to pay US$300 million in compensation to Kuwait Airways for the damage done to it by the late Saddam Hussein’s invasion almost two decades ago.