How Abu Dhabi city looked in the 1970s. Courtesy Ron McCulloch
How Abu Dhabi city looked in the 1970s. Courtesy Ron McCulloch
How Abu Dhabi city looked in the 1970s. Courtesy Ron McCulloch
How Abu Dhabi city looked in the 1970s. Courtesy Ron McCulloch

The Queen's visit: what was Abu Dhabi like in 1979?


John Dennehy
  • English
  • Arabic

On the morning of February 24, 1979, Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Abu Dhabi on the royal yacht Britannia.

But how would a regular visitor to a country just a few years old have fared?

Al Bateen was then the city’s primary airport. After security, a swift affair in those days, visitors hailed a taxi or bus which motored down Airport Road, a paved dual-carriageway that in 1979 was one of the only arteries into town.

If you wanted a five-star hotel there was one choice: Hilton Abu Dhabi. The Al Ain Palace was not a five-star, while Le Meridien did not open to guests until March 1980. There were a number of other small hotels.

Back then, there were no developments on Yas or Saadiyat nor an Abu Dhabi, Al Wahda or Marina Mall – these types of shopping centres did not exist. People shopped for food at Spinneys or Abelas. Jashamals was also popular as it sold international newspapers, albeit a few days old. The souq, a labyrinthine complex of shops supplying everything from cassettes to baseball hats on Hamdan bin Mohammed Street and Khalifa Street was also popular.

If you wanted to splash out, you might grab a coffee at the Hilton. Burgers were served at a branch of Wimpys near the park opposite Al Bateen airport and small standalone restaurants also existed, with the Golden Fish on the Corniche popular for its grilled hammour and lettuce salad. You could pull up a chair at a side-street cafe and and drink sweetened tea.

Al Bateen Airport in the 1970s. Courtesy Ron McCulloch
Al Bateen Airport in the 1970s. Courtesy Ron McCulloch

On Fridays, which was the weekend then, one might have frequented The Club, a private member’s facility by Mina Zayed, or the Hilton. Others packed a cool box and took a boat to one of the islands, such a Saadiyat.

Tourist Club, an entertainment centre beside Le Meridien, was also a hot spot, but lots of entertaining was done at home.

“Life was more intimate, more do-it-yourself,” says long-term British resident Nick Cochrane-Dyet.

Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh with Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father on board the Royal Yacht Britannia during a state visit to the UAE on February 25, 1979. Anwar Hussein / Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh with Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father on board the Royal Yacht Britannia during a state visit to the UAE on February 25, 1979. Anwar Hussein / Getty Images

Emirates News was the daily English newspaper in Abu Dhabi and it cost Dh1. Gulf News, which is based in Dubai, was also available and Arabic readers enjoyed Al Ittihad. Abu Dhabi Radio, the voice of the UAE from Abu Dhabi, had a medium wave service on MW370 featuring news, features and comedy. From In February that year it also offered a service in Urdu and French.

Abu Dhabi TV broadcast for a few hours a day, while readers of a certain vintage might recall watching cartoons on a flickering Channel 33 broadcast from Dubai.

If someone needed to fill their car up after hours, ten 24-hour filling stations operated across the city, while two late-night pharmacies were open on Hamdan Street.

Anyone returning to the capital today will find a city transformed. Al Bateen was replaced as the main airport by Abu Dhabi International in 1982. The souq burnt down in 2003 and was replaced by the World Trade Centre Mall. Wimpy's is now a KFC and Abu Dhabi Radio no longer exists but the mast is still standing, rusting and obscured by trees on the Corniche where Spinney’s Khalidiya sits today.

Not many people take boat trips to Saadiyat anymore – they just drive over the Sheikh Khalifa Bridge. The actual Tourist Club is gone, too, but visitors might be cheered by the strange persistence of its name. Despite the best efforts of authorities to rename the neighbourhood around it Al Zahiyah, Tourist Club stubbornly lingers on. It's a gentle reminder of lives lived, good times had and the ghosts of an Abu Dhabi past that refuse to drift away.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champioons League semi-final:

First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2

Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)

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$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.”

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

The biog

Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.

It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.

They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.

Nancy 9 (Hassa Beek)

Nancy Ajram

(In2Musica)

The Bio

Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959

Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.

He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses

Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas

His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s

Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business

He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery 

Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMay%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHusam%20Aboul%20Hosn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDIFC%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%E2%80%94%20Innovation%20Hub%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEmployees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeight%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epre-seed%20funding%20raised%20from%20family%20and%20friends%20earlier%20this%20year%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Emirates exiles

Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.

Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.

Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.

Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.

Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

The Freedom Artist

By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

If you go...

Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.

Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma

When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

While you're here
Results

Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent

Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent

Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent

Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes. 
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com

Left Bank: Art, Passion and Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950

Agnes Poirer, Bloomsbury

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills

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Biography

Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day

Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour

Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour

Best vacation: Returning home to China

Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument

Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes

Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates