Emaar's partner, Bawadi, will contribute 6.5 million sq/m of land, the two firms said. Bawadi's parent, Dubai Holding, is owned by the emirate's ruler, Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The property lies in Dubailand, a stretch of desert almost five times the size of Manhattan, where Bawadi is building what its says will be the world's longest leisure strip with hotels modelled on Egyptian palaces, Hollywood and London's Houses of Parliament.

The Emaar project, which will include commercial, retail and residential components, will start making money in 2009, it said. Emaar had 16.78m sq/m of land in the UAE at the end last year, according to its annual report. Around half that lies in Dubai, where property sales account for about 85pc of Emaar's revenue. A plot of land Emaar owns near Bawadi's site is not covered by the deal, a company spokeswoman said.

"This will be a huge addition to Emaar's Dubai land bank, which has been shrinking fast," said Jitesh Gopi, head of research at SICO investment bank in Bahrain. "Any addition to its land bank at home would be viewed as positive by investors," he said. Emaar, which is building the world's tallest skyscraper, had planned to acquire more land in Dubai by giving Dubai Holding about $8bn worth of stock to keep its expansion on track until foreign projects start making money.

It was forced to abandon the deal when its shares hit a 28-month low of 9.75 dirhams because it did not give investors details of the size, location or value of the land. "The fact that Emaar has given these details is one step toward regaining the confidence of shareholders," said Mohammed Yasin, managing director at Dubai-based Emirates Securities. "Emaar's success will need to come from Dubai-based projects. Other international projects will take a longer time," he said. Source: GULF DAILY NEWS

The award-winning Dubai-based Emirates airline has started the only non-stop service between South America and the Middle East using Boeing's 777-200LR. One of the world's fastest-growing international airlines’ inaugural flight EK 261 landed in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Tuesday.

Brazil is now the 60th country on the airline's rapidly-expanding network, with São Paulo becoming the 94th destination. The São Paulo route represents Emirates' fourth flight from Dubai to the Americas, following the launch of daily direct service from New York's JFK airport to Dubai in 2004. Emirates quickly added a second daily nonstop flight in 2005 and a third connecting service through Hamburg in 2006.

On October 29, the airline will begin thrice weekly non-stop service from Toronto to Dubai. Emirates will also be launching thrice weekly non-stop service between Houston and Dubai on December 3 this year that will increase to daily service on February 4, 2008.

Emirates is using its technically advanced Boeing 777-200LR on the route, affording passengers unrivalled in-flight service with eight luxurious private suites in First Class, 42 of its latest lie-flat seats in Business, and generous space for 216 passengers in Economy. The aircraft is fitted with the ice Digital Widescreen – Emirates' next generation in-flight entertainment system, offering over 1,000 channels of movies, TV and game entertainment on demand – more than any other airline.

“This marks an important milestone for Emirates. Not only is it our first gateway in South America, but it means we now fly non-stop to six continents from Dubai,“ said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group.

Passengers from over 12 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Malaysia and Australia, joined the inaugural flight to São Paulo after connecting through Dubai from other Emirates flights. Source: DTCM