Riyadh Air launch delayed again as FAA holds up jet certification

The commercial launch of Riyadh Air, the new carrier backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is facing delays because of hold-ups in certification of its new jets by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

The airline was supposed to start taking delivery of its Boeing  787 widebody aircraft last year, but only a handful of the planes have been assembled and they are still awaiting certification, Bloomberg reports.

The certification process has dragged on for months longer than expected and the FAA has not given a fresh timeline for final approvals, the news agency reports.

Riyadh Air, which has not yet given an exact date for its planned 2026 launch, signed deals for more than 39 Boeing 787-9 models, with options for 33 more. It also has orders for 100 narrow and widebody aircraft from Airbus, which are yet to be delivered. 

Etihad Rail evacuates stranded UAE travelers across Saudi border

Etihad Rail’s passenger service, one of this year’s most anticipated infrastructure projects,soft-launched this week with little of the fanfare planned for its official debut, as it was thrown into action to help ferry travelers stranded by the conflict with Iran. 

With tens of thousands of passengers marooned by the closure of Middle East air spaces, many are scrambling to find alternate routes home.

Some wealthy travelers are paying private security and charter jet companies to whisk them overland to airports in Muscat and Riyadh. 

Etihad Rail, which will eventually carry travelers across the Emirates at up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) an hour, ran three trains ferrying more than 350 residents of the UAE back to Abu Dhabi from the Al Ghuwaifat border crossing with Saudi Arabia. It appears likely to continue running similar rescue operations until commercial flights resume.

“Operations will continue as required, in close co-ordination with the competent authorities, until air traffic resumes and flights return to their regular schedules,” Mohammed Al Shehhi, Chief Projects Officer at Etihad Rail, said. 

While Etihad Rail was scheduled to launch passenger services this year, with 11 stations announced so far, the official launch date has yet to be announced. It is expected to carry 36 million passengers by 2030, with a journey from Abu Dhabi to Dubai taking less than an hour. 

Etihad to launch passenger train service in 2026 traversing UAE

Etihad Rail’s UAE-wide passenger train service will launch next year, the company has confirmed.

The news will be welcomed by residents across the country, who have been eagerly awaiting the passenger line since plans were unveiled in 2021.

It was revealed in January that the first four passenger stations would be in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah, but details of their locations have not yet been officially confirmed.

The Dubai station is believed to be near Jumeirah Golf Estates, The National reported.

The first passenger train is separate from the high-speed passenger train announced in January, which will operate a service between Abu Dhabi and Dubai with its own set of stations.

LuLu prepares for biggest retailer IPO in the MENA region

The UAE’s mega-retailer and supermarket chain LuLu Group is preparing to launch an IPO that could be as much as five times larger than any previous IPO for the industry in the MENA region.

The offering, scheduled for late October or early November, will be a dual listing aiming to raise between $1.5 billion and $1.85 billion, Zawya reports.

The stock will be traded on both the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul.

Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC Holdings, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and Citigroup have been hired to manage the offering, Zawya said.

Mubadala to launch U.S. mental healthcare company, executive says

Mubadala is preparing to launch a mental healthcare company geared toward young adults in the U.S. under its healthcare and life sciences unit, Alaa Halawa said.

The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s head of U.S. ventures also offered a glimpse into his mandate as the head of the investment fund’s venture capital strategy, which is focused on healthcare and life sciences. Halawa’s unit is focused on early-stage investing across three verticals, he said, naming therapeutics and pharmaceuticals, healthcare technology and services as well as backing company formations and growth investing.

Halawa spoke on a panel at Milken Institute Global Conference on Wednesday.