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01 December, 2008

Etihad to take over Emirates?

According to The Times, Abu Dhabi is demanding control of Emirates in return for a multi billion dollar bailout:

"The emirate, which is ruled by the Al Maktoum family, has been hit hard by the credit crunch. Its property market, in which many of the big players are state-owned or backed, has enjoyed explosive growth over the last decade but prices are now tumbling, leaving heavily indebted developers badly exposed.

"Government sources in Dubai confirmed last week that talks had begun with Abu Dhabi, which has huge oil and gas reserves, about funding. Rather than ploughing cash into the Dubai state, Abu Dhabi has offered to invest in its neighbour’s strategic assets.

"The airline alone is estimated to be worth about £10 billion and selling a stake in it could generate enough cash to prop up much of Dubai’s economy."


Etihad already bills itself as "the national airline of the UAE". A national airline that doesn't, admittedly, actually fly to the biggest, busiest, most famous city in the UAE if not the entire Gulf. But it soon will if Sheikh Ahmed and his aircraft end up as the sacrificial virgins for Dubai's Big Bubble Burst.

Both airlines deny any merger plans. But given the rapid consolidation taking place in the rest of the aviation industry, having two of the world's fastest growing airlines based in the same tiny country makes increasingly less sense. Certainly plenty of pilots think a closer relationship is on the cards.

Labels: ,

60 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

secret dubai, u have failed on all grounds, by publishing what is quite simply media crap, etihad and emirates merging? and a lot of pilots agreeing? yeah right, and for a bail out from abu dhabi? this is the real world not bloody manopoly!dubai might have some debt issues, but there is no way on this planet abu dhabi will by emirates

01 December, 2008 05:11  
Blogger Muscato said...

Good show SD! Any post that gets that kind of first response is very likely on to things.

At some point, Anonymous, I really do recommend learning to read carefully. The post does not say it is happening - it says that the Times (a highly reliable source in general, if not quite what it once was) say that it may.

That's called reporting, dear - I wish we had more of it closer to home...

01 December, 2008 07:38  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Guys! That is just the beginning! Dubai is broke and Abu Dhabi will simply take over the whole show. I am just wondering if Abu Dhabi was smart enough to let Dubai do the work and pray that they would go bankrupt or if Abu Dhabi simply got lucky. Anyhow, expect Maktoum to get much closer to Nahyan than expected. Next on the list is Emaar, Dubai Stock Exchange, etc...

01 December, 2008 09:26  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

off topic, but if you want to know about the " high quality of life in sunny uae"

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayarticleNew.asp?section=todaysfeatures&xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2008/December/todaysfeatures_December1.xml

01 December, 2008 13:53  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe Sheikh M could raise some money by selling:- a few race horses, the world's largest (?) private yacht for something smaller, a few of his many UK houses, US houses, French houses, etc, etc

01 December, 2008 19:54  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its not only the Nahyans who are gonna pick Dubai dry, but so will the Russians and anyone else with money. Its Dubai Inc. ppl!

01 December, 2008 20:53  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good article on the subject.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5257874.ece

01 December, 2008 23:03  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

they may be truth in what has been said,I have spoken to saeed who works for the Dubai office London he confirmed that there had been talks all day Monday , things are going to be relesed very soon. You are right EMaar is next

03 December, 2008 05:47  
Blogger Unknown said...

The place used to be a paradise back when I was a kid

03 December, 2008 17:57  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes paradise, but we all have fallen from grace.

03 December, 2008 19:25  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

compared to a lot of places, ie england it still is paradise, id love to see a lot of expats go back to england and enjoy themselves, just to live a real life

03 December, 2008 20:59  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To Anonymous "compared to a lot of places, ie england it still is paradise." Maybe if you accept that a lot of Brits were enjoying a privileged status due to the ex-colonial nature of the place, but..
I have gone back to Europe and do not missed being robbed by my landlord, parking my cars 3 blocks away in order to avoid paying for the privilege, having to cope with 20% increase on the cost of living with a 2% salary increase, having my kids commuting 3 hours a days to go to school, barely keeping up with utilities and school fees, being forced to stay home after 7PM as driving accross town would mean sitting in traffic for 2 hours, etc... you get the point.

03 December, 2008 21:49  
Blogger Patricia Hannigan said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

04 December, 2008 03:52  
Blogger Patricia Hannigan said...

That's the airline with the showers, right? BTW anyone going to the LPGA tournament next week?

04 December, 2008 03:54  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why do people still believe in the Dubai myth. I've lived there for a long time and no its not a paradise unless you are such a shallow person that having two maids and living in gated comunities is your thing. Dubais main problem and that of the UAE in general is that nobody loves them. People will say "I love Dubai" wich really means I love the lifestyle. Again, maids, big car, big house, lots of STUFF. When my family and I moved back to Britian we could not beleive how much we missed it. The UK is truly a paradise. One of culture and tolarance. Acceptance and pride. You truly grow as a person living in the civilizied world. In Dubai you stagnate your spritual growth in a cesspool of greed and jelousy. But what can be said of a city that wants to be a corporation, well the ancient Romans said it best "Let the Buyer Beware" so be careful Abu Dhabi no one will bail you out.

04 December, 2008 09:59  
Blogger Unknown said...

Things will never be known in dubai,until it really happens!. Come on!, How on earth you expect to know the facts?when the entire dubai machinery is chirping away with even the worst of calamities.Thats the real dubai. Fake.Its just ballywalk. One may just wait and watch. Truth is definitely clearly visible to residents here, who know deep down where its heading!The fact of life being, that whatever goes up will eventually come down. Dubai has had gone up exponentially and therefore you know what i mean!.

04 December, 2008 11:28  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dubai is one of the most horrendous places to live in, and i have lived in quite a few. low life people, extremely racist society, respect only for those who throw money, no culture worth speaking of, basically it is like living in a las vegas hotel, minus the better weather there. the traffic, the housing costs, low level of service etc are something to be experienced to be believed. i lasted all of 9 months, and ran away to another country that pays me half and lets me save twice as much in dubai.

04 December, 2008 13:23  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From what I've learn the 51% share that the Makhtoum's own/owned in Emirares has been transfered to the Al Nahyan's as collateral for a loan made by Abu Dhabi to Dubai. The Gvt of Dubai still owns 49% of the shares but technically Abu Dhabi is now the owner of Emirates.

04 December, 2008 15:55  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I heard DAMAC was next to hit the skids. I'd love to know what they (& other property developers) did with the obscene profits they made up until last year.
Trump Towers has been cancelled - diddums - & rumour has it many other projects that are already well established (but nowhere near completion) are now running on a day to day basis.......waiting for the dreaded phone call.........

04 December, 2008 18:43  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

yeah anonymous cowards unite ! how dare these uppity bedouins want to better their lives, what do they think they're not a colony anymore ? the nerve... but seriously shk Zayed RIP must be rolling in his grave, I mean BCCI was bad (look it up) but most people got maybe 90% of their money back eventually, the way the Maktoums are doing it resembles a glorified pyramid scheme (you gotta love the latest touch with law 13, which pretty much guarantees the government income from the land sale, backed up by the minimum 30% from the investor if the developer cancels the contract, wonder how many projects will be cancelled lol)

04 December, 2008 23:37  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

@ "I'd love to know what they (& other property developers) did with the obscene profits they made up until last year." Easy, they borrowed more.

05 December, 2008 00:19  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

england is tolerant? are you on drugs? it is the most racist, backwards country i have ever set foot in! if any place in the world is on a slipery slope to despair it is the uk! what a mess it is! racist, homophobic, nasty, depressed little country! dubai may be a little bit racist, everywhere is, but england is truly something else! and habibi london has culture, no where else in the uk, lets get that strait, take manchester or newcastle or birmingham, would u rather live in any of these cities compared to dubai? maybe if your a indian blue collor slave labour , but no one else, get the idea?

05 December, 2008 01:43  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

completely agree. dubai might not be perfect but to say england is a paradise, pass me the pipe you are smoking!! england is one of the most depressing places in the world. lets forget the weather, but lets just take a look at the built up areas. disgusting, dark-brown houses, grey 70s architecture, everyone looks completely miserable and scared, people walk around with their eyes looking towards the ground. how strange is that?! when you grow up like that you dont question it but seriously, how strange is that???

it is a hopeless country, i cant see things getting any better. people are just miserable all the time and go binge drinking at weekends because otherwise they dunno how to be happy/loosen up/ have fun.

i have lived abroad before and now i am back in the uk. i cannot wait to f**k off and go somewhere else, where people know how to LIVE and where the mentality isnt so BLEAK

05 December, 2008 05:22  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All who say positive about dubai in this post are paid bloggers of dubai inc

05 December, 2008 10:59  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

@"take manchester or newcastle or birmingham, would u rather live in any of these cities compared to dubai?" Yes, most definitely.

Heres why.

UAE score on the happiness index 28.2 Rank 154 out of 178. (lowest rank in Middle East)

UK score on the happiness index 40.3 Rank 108/178

Lebanon score on HPI 43.6 rank 83/178

http://www.happyplanetindex.org


Dubai sucks! Once you accept this it would be a step in the right direction.

05 December, 2008 11:30  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is it just me or does Dubai resemble a bad SimCity game.

05 December, 2008 12:48  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

people who are unhappy in dubai are spoilt bastards especially the brits, how dare you say your unhappy here, compared to england where you cant look at someone the wrong way or you will get stabbed! what a load of shit!!!go back to england and then see how happy you really are!

05 December, 2008 19:45  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No one forced anyone to live in Dubai...everyone came in the intention of making serious money compared to where ever they come from...that was the goal of all, it worked with some, and didnt with others.....but if it didnt work with u....dont be a hater!!! never diss a job, a city, a country thats helps u have food on the table

06 December, 2008 01:45  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can I buy a flying carpet?? I cant feel any sorrow for all those people... tossers!

06 December, 2008 01:58  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

@> never diss a job, a city, a country thats helps u have food on the table.
BS it is not as if we came over and simply took and never gave back. All the money Dubai made was in part paid for by ALL expats. Moreover Dubai was and is being built by expats. No use denying it.
This is the perfect illustration of the local culture. Selfish and arrogant.

06 December, 2008 10:28  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with the above comment. Local emiraties are Dubais biggest problem. They consume 40% of salaries while make up 10% of the workforce. Yes, they are actually the most inneficiant workforce in the world. I truly and sadly believe that Dubai would be a much better place if you remove the local population. Emiratis are the biggeset hindrance to development in the UAE.(yes ive met some good ones, but they are far and few between and funny enough think like me!)

06 December, 2008 11:11  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

secret dubai, dont you feel a bit silly having a blog with such racist narrow minded views? people talking about emiraties being a hinderence, lets look at england, where half the british popultation claim benefits and sign on, lets not bitch about emiraties please! and for the western expats, dont act like your the smart ones who biult this country, majority of you have qualifications which wouldnt even be accepted in other countries, for example, the standard of teachers at schools in dubai is absaloutly terrible, go to rock bottom mid week and you will see them all there getting bladdered, same with everyone else

06 December, 2008 15:03  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

is this blog blocked in UAE?

06 December, 2008 17:39  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its not silly and racist. It's reporting life as it is in Dubai. If I was living in the UK, I have a perfect right to bitch and moan if I dont like things. And of course some people do.

Sadly instead of looking and realising what a farce Dubai has become, all you can do is "Boo hoo, no one loves it here. If you dont like it, go home."

Lots of people (including me) did. After living there 33 years I left with no love for the city. Nada, nothing, zip.

Common sense dictates that you should at least look to see if these things are true or not. If you choose to bury your head in the sad with that attitude, soon you will get your wish, and when you look around and see empty shiny buildings with nothing of substance in them, it'll be too late to turn back.

The rise of Dubai in front of the world has been nothing but spectacular. You wanted everyone to watch, and everyone is. You however dont realise that theres two sides of the coin. If you fail, everyone watches as you do.

07 December, 2008 09:52  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As an Emirates Airlines employee, I can assure you this one has been doing the rounds at HQ for a few weeks. And where there's smoke, there's usually fire. Certainly no Senior Management at the airline have rushed to deny it which you would expect if it were completely untrue. Interesting times ahead.

10 December, 2008 18:13  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

im cabin crew with ek, they did deny it, a week ago, it was in the papers, lets see why this would never happen, firstly, ek isnt stupid, and etihad isnt stupid either, ek and ey joining would be like another gulf air, two hubs, it would be a disaster! why would etihad, want emirates anyway? its product isnt as good as ey as we all know, etihad could pottentially be a lot better regarding service. Also, this isnt a fantasy land, this is real business, who acctually thinks AUH wants a 'slice' of emirates just to bale out dubai? lets get real people, some people on this blog need to get of the internet and realise there is a real world out there

10 December, 2008 22:28  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

so some sleezy lebanesy, stating that dubai must be shit cos it has a lower happiness rating than lebanon and newcastle, are you retarded? people in the uk are 'HAPPY' because all they care about is getting benefits from having there 20 kids and going to the pub to snort coke and get drunk on lager and snakebites! no one has ambition, no one is motivated, if it wasnt for london the uk would be no better than greece or portugal in the uk, it has the laziest population in the world! how can you deny it? ok emiraties dont want to do the dirrty jobs, and want to be the top boss, but atleast they have aims in life, english people want to 'get a job' as a hairdresser or sign onto the dole! FACT! the minorty go to uni and want to be succesful! remember, only one in 10 student at school in the uk, go on to university, fact!brits are happy cos they dont no what life is really about and whats really out there for them!

10 December, 2008 22:38  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reality check to the above comment. Most countries in fact all countries the minority go to university. You are very out of touch with reality. You must be emirati. Which means you get paid to go to school. All students at UAE technical collages like HCT and IAT get a salary just to attend classes. Whats more all the teachers tell me that they are forced to pass them. Which is scary because this is where emiratis go to learn such professions as AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE. It must be mentioned that the womens capmus are much more sucessful. UAE women unite and remove the deadbeat emirati men who for so long have used Islam to keep you in ignorance. Happily this day is commimg sooner than later.

11 December, 2008 10:35  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The UK has the 7th most efficiant workforce in the world. No industry in Dubai would be able to survive without these hard working Brits. EmiRATis are lazy and need the Brits to manage their economy. From Emirates to Jumeria these hard working Brits are taking Dubai to a new level of productivity and creativity. The Brits made Dubai. They built it from a backwater pirate base to a half decent city state. Most of sheik mo's ideas were sold to him buy highly ambitions Brits. Dubai should have a national holiday for us.

12 December, 2008 09:50  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

to the brits in dubai, dont flater yourselves, everyone laughs at you, everyone in dubai regards the women as sluts, and the men as drunks, i wonder why...

12 December, 2008 12:15  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

@"ok emiraties dont want to do the dirrty jobs, and want to be the top boss, but atleast they have aims in life,"

hahaha...funiest thing i herd all morning,

13 December, 2008 00:47  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi everyone, I am an EK employee based in DXB.
I've read all the above and would like to add and comment some of the above...
There is an are Jebel Ali where we are expecting the biggest airport to be built with at least 12 runways (you can check this on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Maktoum_International_Airport). The thing starts from this. This airport is half an hour from DXB and half an hour from AUH. The project is expected to be fully built-out and operational by 2017 and will be funded mainly by the state. If this airport never reaches the completion stage, this will mean that AUH and DXB airports will no longer be functional and the main airport will be JXB. Of course I don't believe that at this stage it is meaningful to merge EY and EK... but this will actuallly happen in the future as they will both operate from the same airport. We are watching other airlines already consolidating, lets say LH bought BMI,Austrian, Brussels and Swiss, KLM-Airfrance are waiting to buy CAI (the old AZ), BA QF and IB are in talks for a merger.... the economic downturn and new market conditions are changing the map in air transportation. It seems that only the strong ones will survive and some are doing this by buy other airlines. Maybe in 10 years from now EY and EK will have to face huge airlines with aroun 500 aircrafts each, they will have to operate from same airport... and suddenly the merger EY/EK makes sense, doesn't it.
With all this I just want to say that it is not unlikely to happen... things change and so do the air transportation industry... so my opinion is to never say never...
Rgds to all of you

14 December, 2008 00:27  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

'Dubai will stay strong'

DUBAI is a vibrant city that makes the old feel young. The whole world witnessed its miraculous transformation over the last 40 years. While on his death bed, Sheikh Rashid Al-Maktoum — the architect of this transformation — asked his son, Mohammed bin Rashid, to continue working on the development of Dubai. Whether this transformation is a miracle or just an ordinary phenomenon, it has caught the attention of decision-makers not only in the region but also in other parts of the world. People are closely monitoring the turn of events in Dubai with some of them looking at the remarkable development with envy while businessmen look at the future with eyes wide open....

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/faqdetails.asp?faid=1300&faqid=9

14 December, 2008 13:56  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

to the brits in dubai, dont flater yourselves, everyone laughs at you, everyone in dubai regards the women as sluts, and the men as drunks, i wonder why...

Why? Because, Gulf Arab men regard anything female not wearing a black sack as a slut. Arab/Paki/Indy men too, generally think non Arab/Paki/Indy women are by default, whores. Such is the middle east.

14 December, 2008 14:33  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Why? Because, Gulf Arab men regard anything female not wearing a black sack as a slut. Arab/Paki/Indy men too, generally think non Arab/Paki/Indy women are by default, whores. Such is the middle east."

Exactly. And they don't mind behaving a thousand times worse than brits in Dubai when they're in Beyrouth, Bangkok or in Europe.

14 December, 2008 17:28  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

@anonymous "Dubai will stay strong"

Don't concoct stuff!

Why then after his death the four boys squabbled like headless chicken each doing whatever he wanted each stating that be was in charge? It took alot of intervention from senior advisors to talk sense and make some peace between them.

14 December, 2008 18:18  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm convinced that Brits are the biggest idiot's on the planet....

It's about time you (Brits) realise that it's not the colonial days anymore. At some point you will need to realise that the sun set on your "empire" a long time ago. Your educations are no better than an education from the sub-continent, and your "aristocratic" accent's impress nobody.

You can't play rugby and you have the most unfashionable women in the WORLD...

I could go on forever, but what's the point? You (Brits) are too "thick skinned" and arrogant to face the facts!

18 December, 2008 14:35  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your educations are no better than an education from the sub-continent

*snigger*

18 December, 2008 20:47  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dubai is total shit hole that is fast becoming a world wide joke.

If the locals think it's amazing then they are morons.

18 December, 2008 21:56  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

All the money in the world and emiratis still cant be educated:


"The discussion of teacher absences came less than a week after the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai released test scores that showed pupils performed below average in maths and science in relation to 59 other countries that participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study."

here is the article:

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081219/NATIONAL/702816772/1010


I wonder just HOW much BELOW average the score was.

19 December, 2008 16:17  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

holy shit its like I'm back in the fourth grade, it is true though, the Brits are too fucking arrogant and the Arabs are too proud to admit their failures. Honestly all I saw throughout this thread was childish accusations and statements thrown at one another. The foreigners are thriving on Dubai's failures for some weird reason (jealousy perhaps, come on it cant be that you guys hate Dubai so much because it stands against social principles and human rights, I highly doubt you all are mother fuckin tree huggers and salvation army members), but in contrast Dubai is not willing to reconstruct its social infrastructure in order to be considered more 'civilized' by the world. And so the vicious cycle keeps...cycling.

20 December, 2008 05:55  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

@"The foreigners are thriving on Dubai's failures for some weird reason (jealousy perhaps,"

No, its not jealousy or childness. To understand the love/hate relationship between expats and locals one only has to live in Dubai for a short period. Then the dubai mirage that you see on tv dissapears and the true extent of its vileness becomes apparent. Trust me, you dont need jelousy to hate dubai. Any self respecting human being will abhore what has become of this capitalist wet dream. Visiting dubai as a tourist is much akin to visiting a zoo. You enjoy it but the animals in the cages dont.

20 December, 2008 11:19  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dubai has turned into shit since 2006, thousands of new rules and new faces with no education in power.

23 December, 2008 02:38  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the dubai mirage that you see on tv dissapears and the true extent of its vileness becomes apparent.

Ditto the rest of the GCC sandpits, who follow a similar template.

23 December, 2008 12:55  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I dont think it will happen.

24 December, 2008 20:06  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

IT HAPPEND!! All hush hush!!!



http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=29208&t=1&c=34&cg=4&mset=1011

31 December, 2008 00:58  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

secret dubai diary????????????????? or rumour dubai???????????

emirates rulz dubai!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ethihad rulz abudhabi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

both rule UAE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UAE rulz the world Economy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

16 January, 2009 11:08  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

surprised to see the bitterness in this comment thread. if a shit hold indeed then why are so many people still flocking? perception? no tax glamour? regardless, it is a fact that at least part of emirates is taken over by abu dhabi. how much and how deep time will tell. but do not remain ignorant to dubai's real troubles. it is in trouble indeed and it cannot simply print money. i did not say it will not. i said it cannot. the economists will understand ;)

18 January, 2009 00:31  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know if anyone was raised here in Dubai ... but there was a time when the ecenomy was taking pace in the 90s, the city was and is still run by exapts ... and locals weren't in fashion of filling top CEO positions, and I remember on many occasions how it used to strike me odd to see a picture of a local in a paper or magazine captioned as CEO ... but nowadays it seems normal to everyone.

31 January, 2009 14:42  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

great article, thanks for this good post.

14 March, 2009 11:01  

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