ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi firms will this week reveal details of a US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn) aerospace cluster in Al Ain and several Gulf carriers will make major orders at an otherwise subdued Paris Air Show beginning tomorrow.
Mubadala Development, the investment arm of the Government, and Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) are jointly developing a centre in and around Al Ain International Airport for aerospace manufacturing and services firms.
ADAC is due to sign a partnership with bavAIRia Aerospace Cluster, a German business association, to develop the centre. "We look forward to making a number of significant announcements here at the show," said Khalifa al Mazrouei, the chairman of ADAC.
The company hopes dozens of small to medium-sized firms will relocate to the facilities next to the underused airport to create a an aerospace community around Mubadala's carbon fibre manufacturing plant.
The biennial air show at Le Bourget Airport is one of the biggest events of the industry, along with the Farnborough Air Show and the Dubai Air Show. This year, a gloomy outlook for global aviation and the Air France tragedy are expected to cast a pall over the week-long proceedings.
Airlines lost an estimated $10.4bn last year and will bleed another $9bn this year due to a severe drop in demand. Air traffic worldwide is falling faster than in 2001, the year of the September 11 attacks in the US, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said passenger traffic would decline 8 per cent this year, and cargo by 17 per cent.
"Given the limited visibility, we are not expecting there to be any bold statements about a recovery [in airlines] at this stage," Rob Stallard, an analyst with Macquarie Research, wrote in a note.
The aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus, which saw record sales years in 2007 and last year, are expecting their annual order tallies to be cut drastically this year.
Although the two have more than five years of orders to process, cancellations and deferrals have forced them to cut production on some aircraft types by as much as 30 per cent.
"I expect to see the big players of the industry placing their bets; articulating their strategies on how they are planning to strengthen their presence into the service business," said Damien Lasou, the managing director of the global consulting and technology services company Accenture, based in Paris.
"I expect as well to understand how these companies are shaping their new offering, shifting from selling a product to selling a solution."
Gulf airlines were feted as industry saviours at previous air shows with their large orders, such as Qatar Airways's $16bn order for Airbus planes at the Le Bourget event two years ago.
But the big three, Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways, have mostly finished their ambitious fleet expansions.
Gulf airlines already have a reported 564 aircraft worth $135bn on order, and are not expected to make any multibillion-dollar orders this year.
The exception could be Qatar Airways, which has planned announcements tomorrow and Tuesday. The Doha-based carrier recently said it was no longer interested in CSeries, Bombardier's new entry into single-aisle aircraft, and could instead announce orders for narrow-body aircraft from Airbus or Boeing.
Qatar Airways already operates 22 Airbus A319s, A320s and A321s single-aisle aircraft, and has another six on order.
Etihad said it would also make announcements at the show, but after a record deal for up to 205 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus last year at the Farnborough Air Show it is also not expected to announce significant new aircraft orders.
Mubadala is expected to reveal further details of its carbon-fibre manufacturing plant in Al Ain to produce parts for the European aircraft markers Airbus and Alenia Aeronautica, as well as its planned military aircraft maintenance business, which is being developed in partnership with Sikorsky Aerospace Services.
Mubadala's investments have focused on developing the emirate's economic diversity and intellectual capital, and it is participating in the cluster because of its focus on aerospace as a core industry for the Emirates.
At the Farnborough Air Show last summer, Mubadala signed a 10-year agreement with EADS, the parent company of Airbus, to produce spoilers and flap track fairings for the Airbus A330, A340, A350 and A380.
Future plans called for Mubadala to elevate its role as an Airbus supplier, with plans to make primary structures and components.
Mubadala will invest $500 million in the Al Ain composites plant, which is expected to be operational next year.
igale@thenational.ae
* with Reuters
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
John Cena v Triple H
Matches to be announced
WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship, United States Championship and the Cruiserweight Championship are all due to be defended
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Kandahar%20
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive, Google and Alphabet
Satya Nadella
Chief executive, Microsoft
Ajaypal Singh Banga
President and chief executive, Mastercard
Shantanu Narayen
Chief executive, chairman, and president, Adobe
Indra Nooyi
Board of directors, Amazon and former chief executive, PepsiCo