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Lebanese citizens in the UAE hope the resumption of flights to Beirut will bring down exorbitant flight costs.
Etihad Airways is resuming non-stop daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday, the same day as Air Arabia's flights departing Sharjah.
Escalating tensions in the region between Hezbollah and Israel forced many Gulf airlines, including Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, Qatar, flydubai, Saudia and Oman Air to suspend services to Lebanon in early October. Only Lebanon's Middle East Airlines continued to operate even as the area around Rafic Hariri International Airport was bombed by Israeli jets.
A US-brokered ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah on November 27.
Abed, a Lebanese resident who lives in Dubai, said airlines were previously "abusing the limited availability and jacking up the prices".
The data engineer, who wants to only use his first name, tells The National that he would spend less than Dh2,000 ($544) for a return flight to Beirut during the festive season. But this year, he's paying "almost double".
"The only reason I booked is because I pushed the price down with credit card points," he says. "Airlines in general are notoriously predatory in their behaviour, but this year it's on another level."
To offset the high prices, Abed says he booked tickets on two airlines, Royal Jordanian and MEA, for his annual trip home to visit his family. "I wish other airlines were ready to resume earlier. Maybe the price gouging wouldn't have been so blatant," he says.
Elias, a consultant in Dubai, agrees. He says the resumption of flights couldn't have come sooner. He paid more than Dh4,000 for a return flight from Dubai to Beirut on December 20, which he says is "much higher than normal holiday peak".
Meanwhile, Ali, a high school teacher who also lives in Dubai, says he paid similarly high prices so he can go home for the holidays. "The airfare is much higher than what I would usually pay for a trip to Lebanon, which is normally somewhere between Dh1,500 and Dh2,500. I paid around Dh3,800," he says.
"It is quite understandable though, with the high demand and limited offer, prices can skyrocket fast. Also, many airlines had not resumed their flights to Beirut, which made direct flight options scarce. Some cheaper options included flights with stops in Amman. But for a three-hour trip, I did not feel a stopover was worth the savings."
Ali, who's flying with MEA, is hopeful that life will return to normal in Lebanon soon. He says he's staying around Beirut but is also planning to travel around the country if it's safe. "I want to revisit some of my favourite places, discover new places and check on places that were the target of Israeli attacks in the past months," he says. "I want to create new memories and mourn the places that no longer exist."
Grace Dergham, an architect who lives in Abu Dhabi, echoes similar feelings. Despite having to shell out more than usual on return flights to Beirut, she says she just wants to be home "after everything that happened".
"It’s a bittersweet feeling, to be honest," she adds. "I’m very happy that I’m going back home and I don’t want to take a single second of it for granted, especially since we weren’t sure when we’d be back again during the war. And now that I’m going home, I’m so grateful."
Israel's onslaught throughout Lebanon killed at least 3,961 people and displaced more than 1.3 million – the vast majority in the past two months, according to UNHCR and Lebanese government estimates.
Dergham says she hopes life will be normal in Lebanon again soon. "We just want a stable country that will love us back as much as we love it," she says.
Flights to Lebanon from Dubai via Emirates and flydubai remain suspended as of Tuesday. “We are monitoring the situation closely and currently reviewing the status of our operations to Lebanon,” a representative for flydubai told The National.
According to the latest information from Emirates, flights to and from Lebanon remain cancelled up to and including December 31. Travellers booked to fly with Emirates who have Beirut as a final destination are not being accepted on flights at any point of origin.
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Brief scores:
Huesca 0
Real Madrid 1
Bale 8'
SPECS
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Essentials
The flights
Etihad (etihad.ae) and flydubai (flydubai.com) fly direct to Baku three times a week from Dh1,250 return, including taxes.
The stay
A seven-night “Fundamental Detox” programme at the Chenot Palace (chenotpalace.com/en) costs from €3,000 (Dh13,197) per person, including taxes, accommodation, 3 medical consultations, 2 nutritional consultations, a detox diet, a body composition analysis, a bio-energetic check-up, four Chenot bio-energetic treatments, six Chenot energetic massages, six hydro-aromatherapy treatments, six phyto-mud treatments, six hydro-jet treatments and access to the gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room. Additional tests and treatments cost extra.
Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
