DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Two passenger jets from low-cost carrier FlyDubai and Bahrain-based Gulf Air collided with each other on the taxiway at Dubai International Airport early Thursday morning, though authorities reported no injuries in the incident.
FlyDubai said one of its Boeing 737-800s heading to Kyrgyzstan found itself affected by ”a minor incident” and forced to return to the stand. It said passengers took a later flight, which departed six hours later.
“FlyDubai will work with the authorities to investigate the incident,” the airline said, adding that the collision damaged a wingtip on one of the aircraft.
Gulf Air said one its aircraft “was impacted on the tail by an aircraft of another airline.” Gulf Air did not identify the aircraft involved, but said it was “working to reconnect all the passengers to their final destinations.” Gulf Air flies passengers from Dubai International Airport onto its hub at Bahrain International Airport in Manama.
Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport for international travel before the coronavirus pandemic, said the collision forced them to shut down one of its two runways for two hours. It said operations were not affected by the closure.
2 airplanes collide at Dubai’s main airport; no injuries
https://arab.news/nae6m
2 airplanes collide at Dubai’s main airport; no injuries
- FlyDubai said one of its Boeing 737-800s was affected
Algeria inaugurates strategic railway to giant Sahara mine
- The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030
- The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium
ALGEIRS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday inaugurated a nearly 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) desert railway to transport iron ore from a giant mine, a project he called one of the biggest in the country’s history.
The line will bring iron ore from the Gara Djebilet deposit in the south to the city of Bechar located 950 kilometers north, to be taken to a steel production plant near Oran further north.
The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium.
During the inauguration, Tebboune described it as “one of the largest strategic projects in the history of independent Algeria.”
This project aims to increase Algeria’s iron ore extraction capacity, as the country aspires to become one of Africa’s leading steel producers.
The iron ore deposit is also seen as a key driver of Algeria’s economic diversification as it seeks to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons, according to experts.
President Tebboune attended an inauguration ceremony in Bechar, welcoming the first passenger train from Tindouf in southern Algeria and sending toward the north a first charge of iron ore, according to footage broadcast on national television.
The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030, according to estimates by the state-owned Feraal Group, which manages the site.
It is then expected to reach 50 million tons per year in the long term, it said.
The start of operations at the mine will allow Algeria to drastically reduce its iron ore imports and save $1.2 billion per year, according to Algerian media.
