Etihad Rail has sold more than 70,000 passenger tickets since launching its passenger services, with travellers booking journeys an average of 12 days in advance, the operator of the UAE’s national railway network said on Monday.

The company said the figures indicated growing demand for rail travel among families, commuters, leisure travellers and visitors, with customers increasingly planning business, family and leisure trips around the railway rather than using the service on a trial basis.

“People aren’t simply trying the train out of curiosity. They’re planning around it. When customers are booking nearly two weeks ahead, it tells us passenger rail is already becoming part of how people organise their journeys. That is an important sign that rail is beginning to establish itself as a natural travel choice across the UAE,” said Azza Al Suwaidi, COO of Etihad Rail.

The company said the pre-operational phase attracted demand from a broad range of passengers, including families, business travellers, schools, leisure travellers and People of Determination.

“One of the most striking things we’ve seen is the diverse range of passengers choosing the train for their journeys across the UAE. This diversity highlights the role the passenger train is playing as a comfortable and reliable transport option that meets a wide range of travel needs, whether for family journeys, business travel, educational trips, leisure experiences, or exploring new destinations across the UAE,” said Adhraa Almansoori, executive director of Commercial at Etihad Rail Mobility.

Etihad Rail said it would continue to expand services during the introductory operational phase in line with demand while maintaining its focus on safety, reliability and customer experience. The company said it would monitor passenger trends and add capacity where required.

Etihad Rail stations to open on these dates

The operator also outlined the next phase of its passenger network rollout. Stations in Dubai and Al Dhaid are scheduled to open on September 30, followed by Liwa and Madinat Zayed on November 30, the remaining Al Dhafra stations on December 30, and Sharjah on March 30, 2027.

These additions will further expand connectivity across the UAE’s national passenger rail network.

Oman has introduced a new free 14-day tourist visa as part of amendments to the Executive Regulations of the Foreign Residence Law, marking another step in the Sultanate’s efforts to make travel more accessible and enhance its appeal as a regional tourism destination.

The move offers eligible visitors greater flexibility while simplifying entry procedures and creating opportunities for travellers to extend their stay through other visa categories.

Read more-Oman to offer visa‑free tourist entry for Filipinos starting 2026: What you need to know

The revised regulations, published in the Official Gazette, underscore Oman’s continued focus on supporting the tourism sector and attracting more international visitors through streamlined immigration policies.

The amendments were issued under a decision by Lt. Gen. Hassan bin Mohsin Al Shuraiqi, Inspector General of Police and Customs, based on the Foreign Residence Law promulgated by Royal Decree No. 16/95, its Executive Regulations issued by Decision No. 63/96, the approval of the Ministry of Finance, and public interest considerations, a Times of Oman report said.

Published in Official Gazette No. 1659 on August 2, 2026, the decision comes into force on the day following its publication.

Greater flexibility for eligible travellers

Under the amendments, a new paragraph has been added to Article 10 of the Executive Regulations, introducing a 14-day tourist visa that may be granted by the competent authority to nationals of countries designated by the authority, upon request and in accordance with conditions it specifies.

According to the report, holders of the newly introduced visa will also be able to replace it, before its expiry, with any other tourist visa category available under the regulations, provided they meet the applicable requirements and pay the prescribed fees.

In addition, the amendments introduce the 14-day tourist visa as a separate category under the schedule of entry visa fees contained in Article 29 of the Executive Regulations, with the visa offered free of charge.

When RAK Ceramics signed an exclusive multi-year licensing deal with Roberto Cavalli to develop tiles, sanitaryware and faucets, it called the moment “proud and defining”. Leonardo De Muro, the company’s corporate VP for Marketing & Communications, frames it as something more deliberate: the second pillar of a multi-brand strategy that began with Elie Saab in 2021, and a signal of where one of the world’s largest ceramics manufacturers now sees itself.

That self-image is shifting. De Muro is candid that the maker of 118 million square metres of tiles a year, across 23 plants and more than 150 countries, wants to be recognised less as a volume manufacturer and more as a design-led lifestyle brand, one with a Milan design hub, flagship stores in Dubai, London and Frankfurt, and the manufacturing scale to deliver luxury at the quantities a giga-project actually needs. But he pushes back on the idea that scale and luxury are opposites: scale, in his telling, is what makes reliable luxury possible.

In conversation with Gulf Business, De Muro discusses the Cavalli partnership, why the roll-out starts in the GCC rather than Europe, how RAK Ceramics protects both brands from dilution, and where growth comes from as the company sets its sights on 2030.

RAK Ceramics has just signed an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement with Roberto Cavalli to develop, manufacture and distribute branded tiles, sanitaryware and faucets. Why is this partnership such a turning point, and how did it come about?

It sits within our multi-brand strategy. We began our partnership with Elie Saab in 2021, which proved that a fashion house and a ceramics manufacturer can build something that works commercially, benefiting both parties. That success gave us the confidence to take the next step and move into the ultra-premium segment. Roberto Cavalli was the natural partner with one of the most recognisable names in Italian maximalism, and pairing that visual language with our manufacturing scale is a statement about where we want this category to go.

For us, this is not a one-off licence; it is the second pillar of a portfolio we intend to keep building. What makes it a turning point is what it says about where RAK Ceramics now sits: we are being approached by, and choosing between, brands of this calibre.

The agreement covers a strategic territory spanning the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the wider Gulf, Egypt, Iraq, Türkiye, Morocco and India. What does that geographic footprint tell us about where you see the strongest demand for luxury interiors and why start with these markets rather than Europe or the Americas?

Today, the future is the GCC rather than Europe or America, and the investment flows confirm it. Look at the residential surge in the UAE, the giga-project pipeline in Saudi Arabia, the hospitality expansion across the region driven by tourism targets — all of it is specification-led and design-conscious in a way it simply wasn’t a decade ago. Clients here ask for the brand by name. Egypt, Iraq, Türkiye and Morocco extend that same logic across MENA. India is a market of enormous scale where we already manufacture and where the premium segment is growing quickly.

Channel readiness matters equally. We already operate a direct retail presence and an established wholesale network across most of this territory, so we are not building distribution from a standing start; we are introducing a new luxury proposition onto infrastructure that already performs. Europe and the Americas are not excluded from our thinking, but you start where demand is strongest and where you have the distribution to serve it properly.

Roberto Cavalli brings a bold, unmistakably Italian design language; RAK Ceramics brings industrial scale — 23 plants and capacity for 118 million square metres of tiles a year. How do you translate a maximalist fashion aesthetic into ceramics without losing either the glamour or the manufacturing discipline?

I have built my career in Italy, and my experience has shown me how exacting that design language is; it does not tolerate compromise, nor should it. Tiles and sanitaryware stopped being commodity products a long time ago. What design and technology allow us to do today means we can produce surfaces that rival natural materials and, in some respects, outperform them in durability, in consistency, in format. Our slab facility running Continua+ technology lets us work at large format with advanced digital glazing and multilayer granule application, so depth, texture and pattern definition are no longer constraints. That is the manufacturing discipline. The glamour comes from the design side, and there I have a team, supported by our design hub in Milan, capable of translating any high-fashion language into a masterpiece that is able to perform in a bathroom or a hotel lobby for 20 years. The two don’t fight each other. They harmonise.

The collections debut at Cersaie 2026 in Bologna in September, with UAE showroom previews before that and a showcase at Dubai Design Week in November. What can homeowners, architects and designers expect from the first collections — and how will you price and position them?

The collections are still being finalised ahead of Cersaie. What I can say is that they will be priced and positioned as a product of this kind deserves: ultra-premium, at the top of our portfolio, and consistent with what a Roberto Cavalli product means in any other category. Distribution will be selective. Architects and designers can expect complete solutions rather than isolated pieces: surfaces, sanitaryware and faucets designed to work together, in the bold, expressive register Cavalli is known for. The UAE previews will be the first opportunity to see it, and Dubai Design Week in November will be the full regional presentation.

This deal fits a broader pattern: the Milan design hub opened during Milan Design Week 2025, new flagship stores in Dubai, London and Frankfurt, and a growing push into the premium segment. Is RAK Ceramics deliberately repositioning from volume manufacturer to luxury lifestyle brand, and how far can that repositioning go?

It is a continuous process rather than a switch we flipped. We are already a high-end brand, well positioned among the top players globally, and the Cavalli agreement is a continuation of that, not a departure. Milan, the flagship stores in Dubai, London and Frankfurt, the design hub- that is the infrastructure of a lifestyle brand, not of a volume manufacturer. But I’d push back gently on the framing: scale is not the opposite of luxury. Scale is what allows us to deliver luxury reliably, in the quantities a hotel group or a large residential development actually needs. Very few companies can do both. How far can it go? Far enough that we are recognised globally as a design-led brand that happens to have world-class manufacturing behind it, rather than the other way around.

Fashion houses licensing into home and interiors is a growing trend, but licensing deals can dilute a brand as easily as elevate it. How do you protect both the Cavalli name and RAK Ceramics’ own brand equity in this partnership, and could more designer collaborations follow?

Through discipline, mainly. Strict design control – nothing leaves without approval on both sides. Selective distribution, so the product appears where it belongs and nowhere else. And clear brand roles: Roberto Cavalli owns the aesthetic direction, RAK Ceramics owns development, manufacturing and route to market. Dilution happens when a licensor signs everyone, or when a licensee treats the name as a price premium rather than a design commitment. More collaborations can certainly follow. That is what a multi-brand strategy means, but each one has to occupy a distinct position and meet the same disciplined, quality-first standard. We would rather have a few partnerships that are right than many that are simply available.

The construction and real estate boom across the GCC, from Saudi giga-projects to the UAE’s residential surge, has transformed demand for building products. How is that pipeline shaping your order book, and how exposed is the business if regional construction cycles cool?

The pipeline is strong across residential, hospitality and mega-projects, and it is feeding the order book across all our segments, not only tiles. Construction is cyclical, and we plan on that basis. Our protection is diversification: a presence in more than 150 countries, manufacturing across four geographies, and a balance between project business and retail, between new build and renovation. Renovation, in particular, is far less cyclical than new construction, and it is precisely where premium and designer product performs best. Moderation in one market does not translate into a slowdown across the group. Moving upmarket is also a margin decision, not only a brand decision; premium products are less exposed to the volume and pricing pressure that hits commodity tile when a cycle turns.

RAK Ceramics operates in more than 150 countries, with major manufacturing bases in the UAE, India, Bangladesh and Europe. With global trade fragmenting, freight costs volatile and energy prices unpredictable, how are you managing supply chain resilience and protecting margins?

Our global footprint is the key advantage in managing today’s uncertainties. Operating facilities across the UAE, India, Bangladesh and Europe means we can optimise production closer to demand centres, reduce logistics exposure, and shift volumes between plants when freight or trade conditions move against us. That flexibility is worth a great deal in the current environment. Alongside it, we continue to invest in operational efficiency, energy management, digitalisation and product mix optimisation — the last of those matters more than people assume, because a richer mix absorbs input cost volatility in a way cost-cutting alone cannot. The objective is to protect margins while maintaining the quality and innovation our customers expect, and so far the combination has held.

Ceramics is an energy-intensive industry at a time of rising sustainability expectations from regulators, developers and consumers alike. What is RAK Ceramics doing to decarbonise production, and can sustainability become a competitive advantage rather than a cost?

Decarbonisation in this industry is won on the plant floor, through capital investment. Our newest slab facility runs next-generation Continua+ technology with a seven-layer horizontal dryer designed to operate on heat recovered from the kiln, which significantly reduces fuel consumption. We recycle 95 per cent of waste across tiles, sanitaryware, faucets and tableware; we treat and reuse water throughout the process, and Ras Al Khaimah is now home to the UAE’s first industrial carbon recovery and reuse facility.

And yes, it becomes a competitive advantage; Re-Use is the proof. It is the world’s first porcelain tile made entirely from pre-consumer recycled material, independently certified by SCS Global Services, and it won the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2026 in two categories, Sustainable Design and Materials & Surfaces. That jury did not make the award on environmental credentials alone; they made it on design. That is the whole point. When the sustainable product is also the better product, the cost argument disappears.

Looking at the next three to five years, where does growth come from: premiumisation, new geographies, acquisitions, or adjacent categories? And what would you like RAK Ceramics to be known for globally by 2030?

A balanced mix of all of them, in a deliberate order. Premiumisation is the fastest route to margin and to brand equity, and collaborations like Cavalli accelerate it. Then selective geographic expansion, where we have or can build the right distribution rather than simply planting flags. Adjacent categories follow naturally once you are a lifestyle brand rather than a tile company; we are already in sanitaryware, faucets and tableware, and there is more of the interior we can credibly own. Acquisitions where they add capability or access we cannot build faster ourselves.

By 2030, I want RAK Ceramics to be recognised globally not just as a leading manufacturer; we already are one but as a design-led, innovation-driven lifestyle brand that sets the benchmark for the industry. If an architect in Milan or Riyadh specifies us because of the design, and only afterwards registers the scale behind it, we will have done our job.

The UAE is the largest pet care market in the Gulf, home to 1.5 million pet owners and more than two million pets, yet veterinary care across the region still tends to be reactive, with families seeking help only once something is visibly wrong. Amr Hazem Youssef, CEO of The Petshop, wants to reset that expectation.

With the launch of Aura Veterinary Centre in Dubai Investment Park, he is introducing a calmer, more preventative model built on the promise of “Where Science Meets Wellness”. Aura pairs a Fear Free-certified team with comprehensive wellness checks, minimally invasive surgery, and a purpose-built clinic environment designed to reduce animal stress and, with it, produce more reliable diagnostics.

The centre also completes an ecosystem that The Petshop has assembled across nutrition, grooming, boarding, aquatics, retail, and digital convenience, bringing everyday and medical needs into a single network.

Here, Hazem discusses the gaps he identified in the market, what it takes to embed Fear Free principles, how technology supports lifelong health management, and how he plans to scale without diluting standards.

The UAE pet care market is expanding quickly, but much of the veterinary landscape remains reactive. What specific gaps did you identify that led you to build Aura around a preventative, Fear Free model?
Though the UAE pet care market has developed significantly in recent years, veterinary care is still often approached reactively: pet families tend to seek medical support only once symptoms become visible, rather than through structured, preventative pathways that help identify risks earlier and support lifelong health.

Through our view of the market, we identified a broader gap in how long-term pet health is structured and supported. While individual services exist, they are often fragmented, leaving pet families without a clear, cohesive approach to prevention, early detection, and ongoing well-being. Many are deeply committed to their pets but lack a guided pathway that meaningfully integrates clinical care, lifestyle management, and proactive health planning.

Aura was created to help shift that model from treating illness to managing lifelong health. A big part of that is the Fear Free approach, because fear and stress don’t just affect how pets feel but can also impact outcomes and trust. Our staff are Fear Free certified, meaning they’re trained to recognise and reduce fear, anxiety, and stress at every stage of the visit. For us, this is a quality standard and an operational philosophy.

You’re positioning Aura as both a clinical centre and part of a wider ecosystem under The Petshop. How important is ecosystem thinking in capturing long-term value in the UAE’s pet care sector?
Ecosystem thinking matters because pet families don’t see care in separate boxes. For them, everything is connected: what their pets eat, how they’re groomed, how active they are, and how they feel day-to-day all play a role in their overall health.

That’s why the future of pet care will depend on greater continuity, bringing everything together in a way that feels simple and supportive. Pet families want convenience, but more importantly, they want clear, trusted guidance they can rely on at every stage of their pet’s life, from early care through to their senior years.

For a veterinary centre, real value comes from building lasting relationships, not just one-off visits. Aura is designed to support that by making clinical care part of a broader, ongoing wellness journey focused on prevention, education, and helping pets stay healthy for longer.

Fear Free principles are still relatively new in this region. What operational or cultural changes were required to train staff and redesign the clinical experience around calmer, stress-free care?
Fear Free care is about making sure your pet feels safe from the moment they walk through the door. It means designing the entire journey differently, from the first interaction with the team to how pets are welcomed, handled, examined, and supported during treatment.

Whether it’s the person welcoming you at reception or the vet carrying out an examination, the entire team is trained to notice when a pet is feeling nervous and to slow things down when needed. Sometimes that means giving them a few extra minutes to settle, using treats or toys to build trust, or adjusting how we handle them so they feel more comfortable.

Culturally, the shift is from simply getting the procedure done to getting it done well, safely, and sustainably. Fear Free is a quality standard: when pets feel calmer, they’re easier to examine, they respond better to treatment, and future visits become much less stressful for everyone. Just as importantly, it helps pet families feel more confident bringing their pets in regularly, which is key to keeping them healthy over time.

Preventative veterinary medicine depends heavily on data and early diagnostics. How are you integrating technology and clinical workflows to move from episodic treatment to continuous health monitoring?

The goal is to move from isolated appointments to ongoing health management. In practice, that means paying attention to small changes over time; factors such as weight, dental health, mobility, skin and coat condition, digestion, and behaviour can all tell us a lot about a pet’s overall well-being, especially as they grow older. When we track these consistently, we can often spot issues early, before they become more serious.

Technology helps us stay organised and consistent in that process. It allows us to keep clear records, set reminders for check-ups, and build diagnostic workflows to help create a clearer health journey for each pet, so families can know what to expect and what to watch for between visits. But at the end of the day, technology is just a tool. What really matters is how we use that information to guide care. Our role as veterinarians is to interpret what we’re seeing, to offer personalised, proactive care that is easier for pet families to understand and more effective for pets.

You’ve spoken about expanding Aura within the UAE. What does scaling a high-touch, clinical-first veterinary model look like without compromising the quality of care or the Fear Free philosophy?
Scaling Aura is about scaling standards, not just opening more locations. Clinical quality, pet family experience, and Fear Free principles must remain non-negotiable. That means never compromising on the way we treat pets and their families.

When we think about growth, we think first of people. A high-touch veterinary model depends on culture and process as much as on facilities: assigning the right veterinarians, nurses, and support teams who genuinely care and understand how to handle pets gently and respectfully.

Growth must also be supported by strong leadership and measurable quality standards. Each centre is designed to deliver the same philosophy of care, with preventative pathways and Fear Free principles embedded into daily operations rather than added afterwards.

Effectively, we’ll only expand at a pace where we can maintain that standard, because growth only matters if we’re still delivering the kind of care we would want for our own pets. Our goal is to build a network that pet families across the UAE can trust, where every visit feels compassionate and focused on keeping their pets healthy for the long term.

Riyadh Air said on Monday it had expanded its Asian network with new passenger services to Islamabad, Lahore and Manila, opening ticket sales ahead of the launch of flights later this year.

Saudi Arabia’s new national carrier said flights to Islamabad will begin on August 14, followed by Lahore on August 18 and Manila on September 9. The services will be operated using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

The airline said the new routes support its plans to expand Riyadh’s international connectivity as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme.

Riyadh Air will operate daily services between Riyadh and Manila, while flights to Islamabad will operate daily through a combination of four weekly daytime services and three evening departures.

Services between Riyadh and Lahore will operate three times a week.

The carrier said the Pakistan routes are intended to serve business, leisure, work and family travel, including demand from the Pakistani expatriate community in Saudi Arabia, while providing onward connections to destinations in the Middle East and Europe.

The Manila route is aimed at serving the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia as well as business and leisure travellers between the two capitals, the airline said.

Tickets are available through Riyadh Air’s website, mobile application and travel agents.

The airline also said members of its Sfeer loyalty programme will receive benefits including a “Best Offer Guarantee”, complimentary onboard Wi-Fi and the ability to earn rewards from their first flight.

Riyadh Air’s Boeing 787-9 fleet will offer four cabin classes, Business Elite, Business, Premium Economy and Economy, the carrier said.

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