Emirates airline are developing a fleet of autonomous vehicles, the carrier's chief operations officer said on Saturday.
Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ executive vice president and chief operations officer, told Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid — who was accompanied by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai; Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, Deputy Ruler of Dubai; and Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future — of the plans during the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai's visit to the Emirates lab at Dubai Future Accelerators in Emirates Tower.
Mr Al Redha briefed Sheikh Mohammed on Emirates’ participation in the third cohort of Dubai Future Accelerators, which includes three challenges designed to enhance the group’s services by using modern technologies.
The first challenge is the development of the autonomous vehicles that meet the specialised mobility needs of airport airside operations.
Mr Al Redha said the fleet should use 100 per cent solar or electrical energy instead of fuel and deliver 50 per cent improvement in operational efficiency.
In April 2016, Sheikh Mohammed said he would like driverless transport to account for 25 per cent of journeys in the emirate by 2030.
On Saturday, Mr Al Redha said the second challenge is to invent a solution to transform the way cabin crew are trained.
The carrier's third challenge is to develop a solution to integrate the personalised needs of Emirates passengers across the experience chain.
Mr Al Redha said Emirates’ initiatives reflect the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to use artificial intelligence to enhance the customer experience across Dubai’s airports.
"Emirates will lead the way in this field by introducing unique initiatives that will add value to the aviation industry worldwide," he said.
Sheikh Mohammed said the aviation sector plays a significant role in the development of the country and supports other economic sectors.
"The aviation industry must introduce innovative and sustainable solutions to enhance operations, procedures and the overall travel experience," he said.
Despite many potential uses for autonomous vehicles in the aviation industry, Emirates is the first to use self-driving vehicles in such a way, said Dubai-based chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, Saj Ahmad.
He said Emirates will most likely use the autonomous vehicles to transport cargo.
“The use of autonomous vehicles to transport cargo would seem to be a better fit since cargo doesn’t complain if things go wrong,” he said.
“Emirates’ huge ground fleet operations footprint means that they can experiment on a smaller scale with these autonomous devices before a more progressive roll out to iron out kinks in the system,” said Mr Ahmad.
The use of pre-programmed autonomous vehicles by the airline would also free up people for other tasks, “for example, these machines will be able to operate unaided around the airside area of Dubai International (and/or DWC) and provide logistics and ground support”, a task ordinarily performed by staff, he said.
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The vehicles could also be used to transport passengers to and from planes parked on the tarmac.
“Passengers may feel uneasy, but if we look at this in isolation, is it any different to the Dubai Metro system which also is unmanned? That operates just fine and so passengers will eventually get accustomed to autonomous vehicles ferrying them around the airport if needed. It is also why this autonomy will work better for cargo or freight shipments/connections as there is little or no need for any interaction or intervention,” Mr Ahmad said.
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Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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Results:
First Test: New Zealand 30 British & Irish Lions 15
Second Test: New Zealand 21 British & Irish Lions 24
Third Test: New Zealand 15 British & Irish Lions 15
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
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UAE v United States, T20 International Series
Both matches at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free.
1st match: Friday, 2pm
2nd match: Saturday, 2pm
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Amjad Gul, CP Rizwan, Mohammed Boota, Abdul Shakoor, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
USA squad: Saurabh Netravalkar (captain), Jaskaran Malhotra, Elmore Hutchinson, Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jannisar Khan, Xavier Marshall, Monank Patel, Timil Patel, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Steven Taylor, Hayden Walsh
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
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What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
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4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
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Teams
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shanwari, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Colin de Grandhomme, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Keita 5', Firmino 26'
Porto 0
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
It
Director: Andres Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgard, Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor
Three stars
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
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Price: From Dh590,000
PREMIER LEAGUE STATS
Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
Season/club/appearances (substitute)/goals
2011/12 Chelsea: 8(7) - 0
2012/13 West Brom (loan): 35(15) - 17
2013/14 Chelsea: 2(2) - 0
2013/14 Everton (loan): 31(2) - 15
2014/15 Everton: 36(4) - 10
2015/16 Everton: 37(1) - 18
2016/17 Everton: 37(1) - 25