US resident Aref Aref logged on to a dream driving holiday - thanks to UAE airline Emirates. Aref won the top prize in the Emirates 777 to Porsche 911 online promotion aimed at increasing awareness of the airline's website www.emirates.com. He received two First Class Emirates tickets to Frankfurt in Germany, with a whole week to tour the castles of Europe in a fabulous Porsche 911. The second prize was won by Dubai resident Bindhu Pankar while the third prize was won by Chris Botha of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Emirates bond issue trades on DFM DUBAI: The first-ever bond listing in the UAE for Emirates Airline began trading on the Dubai Financial Market. The listing which was originally for Dh750 million ($204 million), was formally doubled to Dh1.5 billion as it was oversubscribed by more than two and half times, Emirates chairman Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said. The bond issue was arranged by HSBC Financial Services (Middle East) Limited and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi. New tourism guides to Oman's regions MUSCAT: Oman will publish colourful 'concise guides' to the Sultanate's various regions as part of the government's efforts to promote tourism and assist visitors. The first in this series of guides hit the shelves recently focusing on the Dhakiliya region. The guides, being published in association with Al Roya Publishing of Muscat will be available for tourists and tour operators, a government official said. Gulf's first charter firm closer to reality MANAMA: Bahrain Executive Air Services Company (Bexair), the first charter services airline to be based in the Gulf, has moved a step closer to reality with the signing of a contract to build its temporary headquarters at Bahrain International Airport.Construction of Bexair's executive aviation terminal and fixed base operations facility, which will be located between Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) and the airport's VIP terminal, is expected to begin immediately. The $500,000 project will be finished in October. Qatar airport extension work in full swing DOHA: Extension work on Qatar's airport terminal is in full swing and is expected to end next month, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Bakr has said. And Communications and Transport Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Nasser Al Thani, who toured the airport, said the extension work was a stop-gap arrangement and a new bigger airport would be built in three to four years. The extension work had been necessitated by the growth of Qatar Airways. Ferry agent named for Oman MUSCAT: Bahrain-based Tylos Ferry which operates the first Gulf-India ferry, has appointed Towell Barwil, which is part of a worldwide network with 200 offices in 60 countries, as its agent in Oman. The company will handle the Oman port calls of the ferry which already operates from Bahrain, Doha and Dubai. Dubai airport traffic grows 14pc DUBAI: Dubai International Airport recorded a growth of 14 per cent in the first half of the year with 6.8 million passengers passing through compared to 5.9 million in the same period last year. According to a forecast, 14 million passengers are expected to use the airport this year. Aircraft movements totalled 69,491, marginally lower than the 70,503 recorded in the same period last year.