Tag Archives: Sharjah

Commercial passenger traffic at Sharjah International Airport increased by 11.55 percent during the first half of this year, compared with the same period in 2015, according to Sharjah Airport Authority. A total of 5.35 million passengers passed through the airport from January to June 2016, compared to 4.79 million in the same period last year. Aircraft movements at Sharjah airport increased by 5.74 percent from 34,270 take-offs and landings during the first six months of 2015 to more than 36,237 during the same period of 2016. The freight handled for the same period of this year recorded 92,000 tons. Sharjah International Airport’s passenger growth is underpinned by the ongoing expansion of Sharjah-headquartered Air Arabia, the largest low-cost carrier operator in the Middle East and North Africa. The airline has expanded its route network to more than 120 destinations, launching five new international routes since the beginning of 2016, including two new routes from its Sharjah hub. Sharjah International Airport is already a hub for a number of international passenger and cargo airlines including Air Arabia, Air India, Air India Express, Jet Airways (India), Qatar Airways, SpiceJet (India) and Sri Lankan Airlines. Turkish airline AtlasGlobal launched a new daily service between Istanbul Atatürk International Airport and Sharjah International Airport earlier this year, while Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, will add a new daily route from Mangaluru (Mangalore) in southern India to Sharjah from 7 August 2016. Business aviation services company Gama Aviation has also expanded its fixed base operation (FBO) at Sharjah International Airport, establishing its own executive aviation terminal and investing in a new maintenance hangar. The company’s private aviation services in Sharjah are highly competitive with other hubs …

In order to strengthen trade ties between Sharjah and United Kingdom; Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) introduced Sharjah’s investment proposition to businesses in United Kingdom last month, participating in the second edition of the GCC-British Economic Forum, which took place on 21 July in London. Organised by the Arab British Chamber of Commerce and hosted in London, the forum was attended by senior officials, executives, and investors from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Held under the theme ‘Vision, Challenges and Ambitions: Integration Prospects for a Better Future,’ the one-day event was supported by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and UK Trade & Investment. Shurooq CEO H.E. Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal and Shurooq Head of Investment Promotion Mohammed Juma Al Musharrakh also participated in ‘Social and Economic Development’ panel session of the event. Sharjah Investment and Development Authority has stepped up its trade and investment promotion efforts in the UK, opening a permanent office in London earlier this year. Last year the Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) to encourage, promote and facilitate investment and development cooperation between Sharjah and the United Kingdom. In April 2016, Shurooq held ‘Sharjah Day’ in London, a business–to-business (B2B) forum aimed at introducing British investors and businesspersons to investment opportunities in Sharjah, with an emphasis on the many projects run by Shurooq.

Jet Airways has announced that it will launch a new daily route from Mangaluru (Mangalore) in southern India to Sharjah in the UAE from August 7, 2016. Mangaluru is the main port city of Karnataka, India’s 12th largest state by population. Jet Airways is India’s second largest airline operating flights to 73 destinations, including 22 international flights and 51 domestic flights. Beginning in August, the Indian carrier will fly daily from Mangaluru at 9.30 am, arriving in Sharjah International Airport at 11.45am local time. Return flights will leave Sharjah at 12.45 pm and reach Mangaluru at 5.55pm. Jet already operates daily direct flights from Kochi in the Indian state of Kerala to Sharjah.

The lucrative opportunities for investment between Sharjah and Australia were the main item on the agenda at a “Sharjah-Australia Roundtable” organised by Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), in association with the Australian Business Council in Dubai (ABCD), the Australian Trade Commission and Australia Unlimited, at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). The roundtable was Shurooq’s latest initiative in its extensive programme designed to highlight Sharjah’s rewarding investment climate, with Shurooq representatives visiting four continents in the past few months as part of its on-going promotional strategy for the emirate. The most recent activity in Shurooq’s global investment promotion agenda saw His Excellency Gerard Seeber, Australia Consul General in Dubai and Senior Trade Commissioner MENA region and His Excellency Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO, Shurooq, sitting down with Penny Couchman, Chairperson of ABCD and several Australian businesspersons, including spokespersons from Antipodean enterprises operating in the UAE. The day-long event involved the representatives discussing the emirate’s array of fertile sectors for investment, including tourism, environment, health and transport.

Sharjah in its aims to lure more tourists to the destination is working on some new projects to give a whole new face to the retail shopper who visits the destination. This new regional mall will further enhance Sharjah’s image as a family destination with a shopper’s paradise, which could have a positive feedback from the region and its neighbours as well.  Majid Al futtaim holding is building a ‘super-regional’ shopping mall at Al Zahia community in Sharjah, which is planned to open in 2018. Al Zahia is a 1.3 million square metre (14m sq ft) master planned gated community being developed by Majid Al Futtaim and owned by Sharjah Holding, a joint venture between Majid Al Futtaim and the Government of Sharjah. The new mall’s construction was confirmed as a part of Majid Al Futtaim Holding’s announcement that the group plans to invest AED 30 billion ($ 8.2b) in the United Arab Emirates over the next 10 years. Al Zahia community is located close to Sharjah University City and Sharjah International Airport, with access to road links to Dubai and the Northern Emirates. The development offers a range of 3, 4 and 5-bedroom townhouses and villas, apartments, commercial space and amenities including landscaped parks and mosques. The first homeowners took possession of their new properties last year and the development is expected to house over 12,000 residents when completed in 2019. The new super-regional mall will have a gross leasable area of 130,000 square metres (1.4m sq ft) and will be named City Centre Al Zahia. The mall is expected to have a wide catchment area due to its strategic location near Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road (E311), which …