The Economist on Gulf airlines taking over 4, June 2010
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Qatar, The Emirates.Tags: British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Gulf Airlines, Middle East airlines, Qatar airways, The Economist
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The economist has an excellent in-depth article on the three major Gulf airlines.Some highlights:
– Dubai’s T3 “will soon be the largest building in the world by floor space”
– Dubai is current the the 3rd busiest airport in the world (23.s million passengers per year). Hong Kong International is second and Heathrow is first.
– Dubai is building a wholly new airport (who knew?). It’s costing $50 billion and will open in the early 2020s and be “by far the biggest in the world”.
– Gulf Air used to be an airline for all the Trucial States and Qatar.
Osama bin Laden found on British Airways 4, June 2010
Posted by thegulfblog.com in American ME Relations.Tags: Bin Laden, Osama Bin Laden, Osama Bin Laden found, Osama Bin Laden on British Airways
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This picture is taken from a British Airways staff magazine. It shows, as you can see, a first class boarding pass in the name of a Mr. Osama Bin Laden.
It is a perfect example of one of those little japes that seems oh so funny at the time; distinctly less to when you’re in your manager’s office after he’s just received a “severe talking-to” from his boss. It’s not as if BA are currently looking to retain all of its staff at the moment either…
Hat tip. Sultan Al Qasseimi
Iranian Ambassador: Kuwaiti journalists paid by Israel 4, June 2010
Posted by thegulfblog.com in Iran, Kuwait.Tags: Iran, Iran Kuwait relations, Israel, Israel blamed for everything, Kuwait, Revolutionary Guard, Revolutionary Guard spies in GCC, Revolutionary Guard spies in Kuwait
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Kuwait’s outgoing Iranian Ambassador has accused some local journalists of being paid by ‘the Zionist State’ to attack Iran and defend Israel. He is referring, I assume, to the recent stories in the Kuwaiti Press of the discovery of Iranian Revolutionary Guard spies embedded in Kuwait.
This type of fear – that of Iranian sponsored or inspired 5th columnists in Gulf societies – is, I believe, the key fear of most Gulfies, more so than a ‘conventional’ Iranian military threat.
The key problem for the Iranian Ambassador is that even if he is correct and the story is fabricated, he sounds so absurd once again pinning the blame on Israel for this that one simply can’t take him seriously. I think there might be a moral here…something to do with a boy…wolves…crying…sheep…
The Gulf blog 