Abu Dhabi can expect more visitors from China after the first direct flights between Hong Kong and the capital were announced.
Cathay Pacific will start flying to Hong Kong from June 2, opening up access to cities across mainland China through its sister carrier Dragonair.
"The greater China region, comprising Hong Kong and mainland China, is undoubtedly one of the fastest-growing market segments for tourism in Abu Dhabi," said Dayne Lim, the director of product development at Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA). "With factors such as the inauguration of these flights, growth from Hong Kong and mainland China combined could top something above 20 per cent for the year 2011."
The new route could also facilitate business travel and trade between the two destinations as Hong Kong is a key global financial centre.
Almost 14,000 hotel guests from Hong Kong and mainland China stayed in Abu Dhabi last year, an increase of 28 per cent on 2009.
The number of Chinese tourists to the UAE surged after the Emirates was given "approved destination status" by Beijing towards the end of 2009, facilitating group leisure travel and promotion of the UAE. Because of this demand, hotels across the UAE have been recruiting more Chinese staff.
In the first two months of the year, there was growth of 14 per cent in the number of hotel guests from Hong Kong and China to Abu Dhabi, the ADTA said.
The UN World Tourism Organization predicts there will be 100 million outbound travellers from China by 2020. Global spending by Chinese tourists last year increased 17 per cent to US$43.7 billion (Dh160.5bn).
"Of course Hong Kong is also a major leisure destination … as a dining and shopping paradise, with attractions such as Disneyland and other homegrown attractions," said Tom Wright, the regional general manager for Cathay Pacific.
Abu Dhabi Airports Company (Adac) said it was "not easy" to secure the direct flights, explaining it had taken a few years of talks to attract the airline to Abu Dhabi.
"Long-haul routes take a lot of time to develop," said George Karamanos, the vice president of corporate marketing and communications at Adac.
Cathay Pacific said it would launch the flights with promotional fares starting from Dh2,388 to Hong Kong and Dh2,488 to mainland China. The flights also open up more routes to other destinations in Asia and Australia.
Abu Dhabi is the fifth destination the Hong Kong airline flies to in the Middle East. It launched flights to Dubai more than 30 years ago.
rbundhun@thenational.ae
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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
Company%20profile
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match info
Southampton 2 (Ings 32' & pen 89') Tottenham Hotspur 5 (Son 45', 47', 64', & 73', Kane 82')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
MATCH DETAILS
Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)
Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)
