Knowledge Economic City (KEC) has announced its sponsorship and participation in the upcoming three-day Madinah Real Estate and Construction Forum 2011, in its 6th edition. The forum will also feature an exhibition, which is an attractive and unique opportunity to discover recent developments and projects in the real estate market. As one of the most important real estate events in the region, it provides both developers and individual buyers with the opportunity to interact and get the latest information on housing and financing options starting on June 18. At the expo, KEC will leverage their participation to highlight the phase one components, and specifically Dar Al Jewar, claimed to be the first residential gated community in Madinah, and the achievements in the development progress. KEC’s participation in the forum will provide a great opportunity for interested visitors to know more about the existing investment opportunities within KEC and how to be engaged as a developer, investor, and operator. In addition, KEC will reveal its 1st residential community project Dar Al Jewar and future residents can learn more about the community, its components, and the units. Khaled Abdulgader Tash, VP-marketing and sales, will present the project’s components, progress, and plans at a special session during the second day of the forum. “This will be SABIC’s second polycarbonate plant” said Al-Alaiwat. The first is located in the Saudi Kayan complex and also has a production capacity of 260k mtpa.

Qatar Airways has created a dedicated new National Scholarship Program targeted at talented Qatari high school graduates. The long-term initiative is aimed at supporting their education to develop the right set of skills required by the airline and to qualify them for senior commercial and leadership positions at the Doha-based carrier. The new scholarship for Qatari nationals has a strong focus on business-centered degrees in majors such as business administration and management, marketing and communications, computer science, HR, finance and accounting, logistics and law. It complements an existing scheme the airline runs in collaboration with Qatar’s Aeronautical College, which prepares Qatari students to take on various roles within the aviation industry covering areas such as engineering, passenger services, airport operations, cargo and pilots. The college course has been highly successful and today the airline employs a number of Qataris, including a high percentage of national pilots and managerial level engineers. Each year, the airline takes 50 Qatari pilots, who are trained at the Qatar Aeronautical College, and abroad. Qatari nationals are the second highest nationality group within Qatar Airways’ pilot community. The total number of pilots within the carrier currently stands at over 1,500. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said: “Employing and developing local talent is part of our corporate culture and we are committed to invest in young Qataris.”

Qatar Duty Free (QDF), a subsidiary of Qatar Airways, has announced the winner of its latest $1 million draw, creating its seventh instant millionaire since the raffle series began in 2006. The draw was conducted within the Qatar Duty Free retail shopping area at Doha International Airport (DIA), with 46-year-old Doha resident Joseph Sangese from the United States emerging as the winner. An elated Sangese said: “This has come as a real shock. I have never won so much money before. This is a wonderful gift for me and my family.” Married with four daughters, he plans to return to the United States to spend more time with his family and invest in the university education of his eldest daughter. A contractor with General Electric in Doha since February last year, Sangese bought his lucky ticket in March before boarding a Qatar Airways flight to Bangkok. Of the proud winner, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said: “I offer my personal congratulations to Mr. Sangese on buying the lucky ticket and becoming our seventh and newest Qatar Duty Free millionaire. To those who missed out, there’s always another chance to win next time.” The US Dollar Millionaire raffle was launched in May 2006 giving passengers a great opportunity to win the bumper prize as each draw is made after the 5,000 tickets are sold. Departing and transiting passengers at DIA are able to purchase raffle tickets for QR950 each. Tickets can also be bought online by anyone from QDF’s website.

British Airways (BA) customers flying through Terminal 5 at London Heathrow are now benefiting from even more space and improved facilities following the opening of a new 340 million pound third part of the terminal. The new satellite terminal, known as T5 C, provides additional capacity and will help to make sure that customers have an even smoother start or end to their journeys. More than 70 million customers on over 500,000 flights have used Terminal 5 since it opened in March 2008 and the facility has helped BA to achieve record levels of punctuality, baggage performance and the airline’s highest ever customer satisfaction scores. With the opening of T5 C, an extra three million customers each year, will be able to walk directly on or off their aircraft by using a covered “air bridge” linked to the terminal building, rather than having to use a bus. The new satellite terminal has 12 boarding gates, of which eight are triple bridges designed to cater for the new 12 strong fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft joining BA from early 2013. Situated closer to the other terminals at Heathrow, T5 C will give BA greater flexibility in how it manages its 4,000 flights a week at the world’s busiest international airport. A new dedicated transfer baggage tunnel linking T5 C and Terminal 3, due to open in 2012, will further improve baggage performance for all airlines at the airport. Andy Lord, BA’s director of operations, said: “We hope that T5 C will improve our overall performance even further.”

Young travelers on Singapore Airlines have something new to be excited about. Singapore Airlines (SIA) has introduced a new range of toys from Hasbro especially for its young customers aged 12 and below. The exclusive collection includes toys and amenities from the popular Monopoly, Transformers, Play-Doh, Littlest Pet Shop, Chuck & Friends, Guess Who? and Twister series.

Doha International Airport (DIA) has opened its brand new Terminal B, a dedicated departures facility for foreign airlines — ahead of the busy summer holiday season. All passengers traveling on flights with over 30 international airlines will now depart from Terminal B, while all Qatar Airways’ flight departures will continue to operate from the existing Departures Terminal, now renamed Terminal A. The new-look Terminal B, situated adjacent to Terminal A, is the result of a six-month transformation of the old arrivals building, which closed down in December last year and moved to a new location on the edge of the airport. Both Terminals A and B share the same Duty Free shopping, lounge facilities and parking at DIA. The move to separate flight departures follows the continued rapid growth of Qatar Airways, which has meant infrastructure changes at the airport to cope with the expansion. Also officially launched is a revamped website for DIA. The website is a comprehensive portal for information about the airport, airline operators, departures, arrivals, baggage tracing, hotels, booking Al Maha Meet & Greet and Service, and visa regulations. A unique functionality launched with the website is a mobile SMS feature that can provide instant updates about flight departure and arrival timings. Present at the official launch of Terminal B today, DIA and Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker reinforced the importance of expanding capacity at DIA’s facilities at a time when passenger traffic is growing exponentially.

NCB Capital, Saudi Arabia’s largest investment bank and leading GCC wealth manager, said in a new report that a positive outlook driven by strong prices and demand coupled with attractive valuation will benefit Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). The bank kept its overweight rating for SABIC with a slightly higher price target of SR128.6. “Our positive outlook for prices, contribution from new capacities which started in 2010, and the commercial start of key units of Saudi Kayan in 3Q11, we believe, will drive SABIC’s earnings in 2011,” said Tariq Al-Alaiwat, equity research analyst at NCB Capital. “We estimate 2011 revenues of SR190.5 billion, up 25 percent YoY, with a net income of SR31.2 billion, up 45 percent YoY.” SABIC is a leading global petrochemical player with a broad product range, integrated production flow and low cost feedstock advantage. A strong presence in emerging markets and a generally robust pricing environment support the upside potential for the stock. The company has had a strong start to the year with 1Q 2011 net income of SR7.7 billion, the highest quarterly earnings in its history. The SABIC-Sinopec JV signed MoU is for building a polycarbonate plant at their Tianjin complex that will have a capacity of 260k mtpa and is expected to start by 2015.