• Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, visits the Emirates Airlines Engineering Centre. All photos: Dubai Media Office
    Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, visits the Emirates Airlines Engineering Centre. All photos: Dubai Media Office
  • Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, reviewed the airline's ongoing 'retrofit' refurbishment programme for its A380 aircraft
    Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, reviewed the airline's ongoing 'retrofit' refurbishment programme for its A380 aircraft
  • Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, visits the 400,000-square-metre facility that is home to 12 hangars
    Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, visits the 400,000-square-metre facility that is home to 12 hangars
  • Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, meets the Emirates engineering team that is made up of 60 per cent UAE citizens
    Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, meets the Emirates engineering team that is made up of 60 per cent UAE citizens

Dubai Ruler oversees Emirates A380 overhaul project


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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, oversaw the retrofitting of an Emirates A380 on Wednesday when he visited the airline's engineering centre.

Sheikh Mohammed watched as a superjumbo jet was prepared for a fresh interior as part of the airline's $2 billion overhaul programme.

Many of the Airbus planes will be fitted with new premium economy cabins.

The 400,000-square-metre engineering facility spread over 12 hangars is one of the largest structures in the Middle East.

Over two years, the programme aims to upgrade the cabin interiors of 120 aircraft.

Each plane takes about 21 days to refurbish.

Emirates employs more than 5,500 people in various positions in its engineering division. About 60 per cent are Emiratis and 20 per cent are women.

Sheikh Mohammed also visited Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport, which provides services to 50 other airlines including flydubai.

He was briefed on the airport's operations, including its preparations to handle increased travel demand during the summer holiday season.

In a tweet shared on Wednesday, Sheikh Mohammed praised the Emirates team for their hard work and maintaining a high quality of service.

Dubai International Airport received more than 66 million passengers in 2022.

Long read

Mageed Yahia, director of WFP in UAE: Coronavirus knows no borders, and neither should the response

The biog

Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists. 

Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.

Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic 

$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal

Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.

School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.

“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.  

“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”

Oscars in the UAE

The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Tips for taking the metro

- set out well ahead of time

- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines

- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on

- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers

Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 4/5
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing

Twelve books were longlisted for The Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The non-fiction works cover various themes from education, gender bias, and the environment to surveillance and political power. Some of the books that made it to the non-fiction longlist include: 

  • Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War by Tim Bouverie
  • Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me by Kate Clanchy
  • Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
  • Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims by Hussein Kesvani
  • Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS by Azadeh Moaveni
Favourite things

Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery

Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount

University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China

Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai

Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China

Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs

Simran

Director Hansal Mehta

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey

Three stars

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20myZoi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Syed%20Ali%2C%20Christian%20Buchholz%2C%20Shanawaz%20Rouf%2C%20Arsalan%20Siddiqui%2C%20Nabid%20Hassan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2037%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Initial%20undisclosed%20funding%20from%20SC%20Ventures%3B%20second%20round%20of%20funding%20totalling%20%2414%20million%20from%20a%20consortium%20of%20SBI%2C%20a%20Japanese%20VC%20firm%2C%20and%20SC%20Venture%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
FIXTURES

Saturday
5.30pm: Shabab Al Ahli v Al Wahda
5.30pm: Khorfakkan v Baniyas
8.15pm: Hatta v Ajman
8.15pm: Sharjah v Al Ain
Sunday
5.30pm: Kalba v Al Jazira
5.30pm: Fujairah v Al Dhafra
8.15pm: Al Nasr v Al Wasl

ESSENTIALS

The flights 
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes. 
Where to stay 
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.

PROFILE OF INVYGO

Started: 2018

Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo

Based: Dubai

Sector: Transport

Size: 9 employees

Investment: $1,275,000

Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri

The biog

Age: 46

Number of Children: Four

Hobby: Reading history books

Loves: Sports

Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule

 

  • 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
  • 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
  • 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Updated: July 13, 2023, 6:06 AM