The country’s two big airlines are bracing for what they expect to be their busiest holiday season.
Passengers flying this Friday can expect the biggest crowds at check-in desks as thousands of residents head for the airports of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Etihad Airways and Emirates have urged passengers to check in on time in the run-up to the annual festive rush.
Emirates expects December 19 to be its busiest day, when 80,000 people are booked to travel on 240 flights – which represents a 23 per cent jump on last year.
“We have deployed extra staff at the airport to assist our customers, and we ask all travellers to be aware of check-in and gate closure timings,” said Mohammed Mattar, the divisional senior vice president at Emirates Airport Services. “They should also allow ample time to get through the various touch points at the airport, as check-in and gate closure timings will be strictly followed to ensure flights depart on schedule.”
Mr Mattar added that customers who check in less than 60 minutes before their scheduled flight departure will not be allowed to board the flight.
Etihad has introduced a series of passenger traffic speeding measures that are due to run through December 24.
They include a “moonlight check-in”, where guests who check in during moonlight hours will get an additional 5kg baggage allowance and 5,000 bonus guest miles.
The airline is also offering a complimentary shuttle bus to transport its guests from the city centre terminal to the airport.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi are investing billions of dollars in expanding their airports to cope with double-digit passenger growth resulting from the rapid expansion of Etihad and Emirates.
Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport increased by 17.4 per cent in October, the latest data show. More than 1.69 million people passed through the airport during that month compared with about 1.44 million a year earlier.
Meanwhile, passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport rose 5.7 per cent in October putting the airport on track to eclipse the 71 million passenger mark by the end of the year, according to the latest traffic report issued by the operator Dubai Airports.
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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%20specs
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Brief scores:
Toss: Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi, chose to field
Environment Agency: 193-3 (20 ov)
Ikhlaq 76 not out, Khaliya 58, Ahsan 55
Pakhtunkhwa Zalmi: 194-2 (18.3 ov)
Afridi 95 not out, Sajid 55, Rizwan 36 not out
Result: Pakhtunkhwa won by 8 wickets
