Etihad

Etihad Airways annual loss narrows to less than $1bn

Revenues for 2019 slid about 5 per cent to $5.6bn

UAE urges citizens and residents to avoid travelling due to the coronavirus outbreak

Individuals who travel will be subject to certain measures including medical checks at the airport and possible home quarantine upon their return

Oil slides amid Saudi-Russia discord on OPEC+ production cuts

West Texas Intermediate futures for April delivery fell 40 cents to settle at $46.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange

emirates skywards

Emirates app crosses 20 million download mark

While it is already available on the Google Play and Apple Store, it was recently added to the Huawei AppGallery too

Everything you need to know about the four-week break for schools, universities in Dubai

All nurseries, schools and universities across the country will be closed for four weeks starting March 8

Saudi Arabia plans $6bn surge in mortgage refinancing

The value of outstanding mortgages has jumped to 482bn riyals – a 66 per cent increase since 2017 – with an official target of 500bn by end-2020

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed establishes Abu Dhabi Arabic language centre

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed appointed Dr Ali bin Tameem as chairman of the new centre

e-learning study from home

UAE schools begin rolling out learn-from-home programmes

Schools began to test remote learning systems even before the announcement of the revised spring break dates was made

Dubai bank Emirates NBD to reduce tariffs following UAE central bank initiative

Late last month, the UAE central bank urged banks to reschedule loans and reduce fees

Travellers from India, Egypt among others, need health clearance to enter Kuwait

The examination certificate must be issued by medical centers approved by Kuwaiti embassies in those countries

Flydubai returns to profit in 2019, but says Max grounding ‘significantly impacted’ growth

The airline reported a 2.6 per cent drop in revenues, while passenger numbers fell by 12.7 per cent

Update: Abu Dhabi’s Etihad asks cabin crew to take paid leave

A spokesperson for the airline added that changes in demand for travel brought about by Covid-19 coronavirus has resulted in this decision

nursery uae

Coronavirus: Nurseries in UAE to also remain closed for four weeks

Early on Wednesday morning, the ministry said that all schools and universities across the country would remain closed for four weeks beginning from Sunday

UAE’s GDP set to increase 2.5 per cent to Dhs1.5 trillion in 2020

The country’s minister of state also added that it was too early to assess the full impact of VAT on the national economy

Abu Dhabi’s healthcare regulator suspends international patient care services

The Department of Health is liaising with authorities to ensure that IPC patients have access to timely healthcare services

UAE officially starts operations at Barakah nuclear power plant

The load of the 241 fuel assemblies into the Unit 1 reactor was completed this week

Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund parts ways with three executives

Chief strategy officer Dennis Johnson and head of risk, Martin Botha, have exited the company

Different Arab money

UAE, Saudi and Bahrain lower interest rates in line with Fed move over virus outbreak

Central banks in the GCC matched the Fed’s half-percentage point cut

Coronavirus: Ai Everything and Careers UAE postponed

Ai Everything has been postponed indefinitely, while Careers UAE will take place in October this year

Schools, colleges in the UAE to close for four weeks from March 8

A distance learning initiative was also announced

UAE to name its next two astronauts by January 2021

More than 3,000 applicants have applied so far, 33 per cent of whom were women

carrefour mobimart

Carrefour launches mobile grocery bus in Dubai

Customers can check daily route schedules and timings of the Mobimart bus on Carrefour’s website

Sheikh Mohammed launches multilingual “mystery shopper” app

The app is accessible to residents and visitors to the emirate and will help measure government services

Coronavirus impact: Emirates makes operational changes, steps up aircraft cleaning

The airline, which has been forced to cancel some flights, confirmed that it was offering staff the option of taking unpaid leave

Abu Dhabi-based banks report Dhs40.3bn net income in 2019

Last year Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank officially merged with Union National Bank and the combined entity acquired Al Hilal Bank

Twitter urges 5,000 global employees to work from home

Twitter has said it’s mandatory for employees in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea to work from home over coronavirus fears

Bahrain, Manama, Cityscape view of Bahrain World Trade Center and Bahrain Financial Harbor

Inspired by Aramco IPO, Bahrain may sell stake in oil assets

Bahrain, where oil and gas are also central to the economy, wants to balance its budget by 2022

SAUDI-HEALTH-VIRUS

Saudi Arabia confirms first case of coronavirus

A Saudi citizen, who came from Iran via Bahrain, tested positive for the virus

Samsung launches its Galaxy S20, Z Flip phones in the UAE, prices revealed

For the smartphone industry, 2020 is anticipated to be a ‘breakout’ year for 5G devices

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi to launch in H2 2020

The low-cost carrier will focus on establishing routes to markets in which Wizz Air has existing, high growth operations