TIMELINE-Malaysia Airlines Flight To Beijing Missing In Asia

A timeline of events in the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner which vanished from radar screens on Saturday.

Qatar-Backed Bloc Says To Rejoin Syrian Opposition Coalition

The 40-member bloc, which quit the 120-member coalition, said it had returned to confront what it saw as its unfair exclusion from decision-making.

Emirates Starts Daily Boston Flights

The east coast city becomes the eighth destination in the carrier’s US network

UAE’s Arabtec Agrees $40 billion Housing Project With Egypt Army

The project will cover 160 million square meters across 13 sites in Egypt for lower income individuals, a statement said.

Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Makes Emergency Landing At Honolulu

The jetliner en route to San Francisco from Tokyo diverted to Honolulu after oil pressure in its right engine dropped.

Iraqi PM Maliki Says Saudi, Qatar Openly Funding Violence In Anbar

He also blamed both countries for launching Syria’s three-year civil war through al Qaeda-linked groups.

Caution May Return On Ukraine-Russia Crisis, Egypt Clashes Could Weigh

Regional shares were dampened last week due to the Ukrainian crisis but recovered lost ground as the situation seemed to have calmed.

Malaysian Jet’s Disappearance Among Rarest Of Aviation Disasters

The incident is likely to rekindle a debate about whether black box flight recorders should be replaced with satellite-based systems capable of sending back telemetry in real time.

IMF Says Its ‘Negative Image’ Steers Countries Away From Borrowing

The Fund’s traditional lending programs are meant for countries with an urgent crisis, and come with stringent conditions attached.

Egypt Lobbies Germany To Ease Travel Advisory

The fatal bombing of a tourist bus in Egypt’s Sinai region prompted a travel advisory from Germany.

Middle East Records 18% Air Passenger Traffic Growth In January-IATA

Middle Eastern carriers are benefitting from the strength of regional economies and a solid growth in business-related premium travel, says IATA.

Drake & Scull’s German Unit Wins Two Indian Deals Worth Dhs50m

Passavant-Roediger, a German subsidiary of UAE-based Drake & Scull International, will undertake one project in Gujarat and one in Rajasthan.

More Gulf Capacity Set For Tokyo

Qatar Airways joins Emirates in providing more access to and from Tokyo’s second airport

Lufthansa, Qatar Airways Clash Over In-Flight Movies On Smartphones

Germany’s Lufthansa has announced plans to offer wirelessly streamed movies to passengers.

All EU Citizens To Get UAE Visa On Arrival From March 22

The UAE has passed a new ruling exempting citizens from 13 European member states from requiring a pre-entry visa.

Lufthansa Unveils Premium Economy Seat

Seats have 50 per cent more room than economy and will initially be on Boeing 747-8s and gradually rolled out across the long-haul fleet.

Sofitel Dubai Downtown To Open May 1

The city’s third Sofitel will have a strong artistic flavour

Yahoo To Stop User Access Of Services With Facebook, Google IDs

Users will need Yahoo accounts to access services such as Fantasy Sports and photo-sharing site Flickr.

Middle East Air Passenger Traffic To Grow By 6.7%

Air passenger traffic in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman is expected to grow at 6.6, 6.9 and 7.2 per cent respectively, a report says.

Inflation Rates In GCC Economies To Rise In 2014

Inflation rates will stay at manageable, low single-digit levels throughout the region, the report said.

Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank Launches Asian Islamic REIT Fund

The REIT will invest in between 15 and 35 properties and be managed by Swiss-based B&I Capital AG.

Revealed: Top 10 Billionaires In The GCC

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed again ranks first in the region on Forbes’ annual list of the world’s billionaires.

Cybercrime Hits Financial Firms Hardest – Survey

Some 45 per cent of financial firms were victims of fraud last year, PwC’s 2014 global economic crime survey showed.

Dubai’s Al-Futtaim Wins Control Of Kenyan Motor Firm CMC

The 91 per cent acceptance means Al-Futtaim will hold 533 million shares in CMC, which distributes Ford, Suzuki and Volkswagen vehicles among other brands in the region.

Oil Jumps Over $2 As Ukraine Mobilises For War

Continued tensions in Ukraine have caused energy prices to rise and financial markets to decline.

Air Arabia Prepares For RAK Take-Off

Low-cost carrier about to step into the aviation breach following RAK Airways’ closure

Etihad Airways Starts Double-Daily New York Flights

The Gulf carrier will initially operate the extra flights on two three-class Boeing 777-300ERs, leased from partner Jet Airways, and from May 1, Jet Airways will take over the service

UAE-Led Group To Buy Two India Power Plants In A Deal Worth $1.6bn

Abu Dhabi’s TAQA will control the operations and management of both plants under the deal.

Apple CEO Promises New Products, Says Apple TV No Longer A “Hobby”

The $99 Apple TV set-top box racked up $1 billion in sales in the past year, he said.

Over One-Third Of Middle East Firms Are Corrupt

Local firms are losing billions of dollars through negligence.