UAE aviation authorities plan to ask their German counterparts to allow the emirate’s airlines to fly to more destinations there.
This follows a German request last month that the two countries review their air services agreement.
Saif Al Suwaidi, director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority in the UAE, said the desire is twofold: to add destinations in Germany for UAE-originated flights, and to add destinations in third countries via Germany for UAE-originated flights.
The latter are what is known as “fifth freedom” flights, in which an airline is allowed to fly to two foreign countries on a route that originates on its home soil. An example would be Dubai-Frankfurt-Copenhagen.
Regarding new destinations, Mr Al Suwaidi said Berlin is the “most important” city to add to UAE carriers’ itineraries.
Currently, UAE carriers fly to German cities including Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.
In October, airberlin said that German authorities refused to give permission for 34 codeshare flights with Etihad this winter, which the two airlines have challenged.
“I think commercial competition is behind this request from the German side to review the air service agreement,” said Mr Al Suwaidi. “We are talking with the German side to at least approve this schedule [between Etihad and airberlin].”
He also said that he thinks that the Germans want to review the “fair competition clause” of the air services agreement.
“We don’t mind doing that. We think that our operators were fairly competing with their operators,” said Mr Al Suwaidi.
However, he suggested that there is no point for the UAE to discuss fair competition with Germany alone, since it is already discussing the topic with the European Union.
In March, we will be discussing “the fair competition clause” between the GCC and EU. This clause will be applicable for individual states such as the UAE and Germany, he said.
Mr Al Suwaidi said the UAE wants to add more frequencies in Italy and France.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
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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
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