An emergency alert was sounded at the airport as the flight returned for landing. Air India officials said that all the 153 passengers, including two infants, and the six-member crew were safe.

The passengers were accommodated in nearby hotels and later taken by a special flight to their destination.

The airline officials said the flight, AI-937, was hit by a bird on its right engine soon after it took off from the airport. The engine on the right side was damaged and the flight had to be held in the sky for about 50 minutes to reduce its fuel.

The aircraft, with a full fuel load, dumped fuel into the sea before landing safely. An official spokesman of the airline said that the bird menace was quite frequent in all the airports in Kerala, especially in Calicut.

Air India engineers who examined the flight said that the aircraft was not flight worthy. They said that the plane would require major repairs before it is put to service.

A spokesman of the national carrier said that bird menace was quite frequent in airports in Kerala, especially Calicut airport. Close proximity of the abattoirs and garbage dumps to the airport has been attributed to this.

“We have taken up the matter with local authorities concerned several times but I feel they have not understood the seriousness of the issue”, a senior official at the airport said.

The Time Out Dubai team judges restaurants on food, service and ambience, as well as other aspects that make or break the dining out experience. A zenith of thousands of dishes, hundreds of reviews and countless hours of debate from the Time Out team, the Time Out Dubai Restaurant Awards are the region’s most significant culinary recognition.

Joanna Midzio, Food & Beverage Manager, Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites expresses: “Top hospitality industry top guns were present and when the announcement was made, The Observatory team was elated. Accepting the award for ‘Highly Commended’ in the Best International Category at the prominent Time Out Restaurant Awards 2012 was an amazing achievement; The Observatory team was jubilant to accept the award. It is a mark of distinction, to be shortlisted among the top restaurants in Dubai.”

Wonderfully novel and outright chic, The Observatory, set on the 52nd floor of the Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites, offers one of the best hotel deals in Dubai. The restaurant delivers a dining experience you’ll savor in more ways than one. This signature destination restaurant and bar’s venue offers a breathtaking blend of sophisticated urban ambience, palate-pleasing cuisine, and the finest house beverages such as perfectly shaken cocktails.

About the Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites The Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites has an ideal location overlooking both the Dubai Palm and Dubai Marina. Only 30 minutes from Dubai International Airport, this 4 star Dubai hotel boasts 232 sensational one, two and three bedroom suites, which cater for corporate executives or leisure travelers on short or extended visits. Within a 10-minute walk of the hotel you will find yourself in Dubai Marina, next to Dubai Yacht Club and Dubai Marina Mall, venture a little further on the exciting new Dubai Metro and you are within easy reach of the Mall of the Emirates, Ski Dubai, Wild Wadi Water Park and Palm Jumeirah. Visit one of the finest, spa hotels in Dubai to indulge in the ultimate relaxing experience or retreat to the fully equipped fitness center for some physical activity. The hotel offers a tempting choice of 3 unique dining experiences, from a casual setting of Counter Culture to the finest international cuisine in a stylish indoor and outdoor haven at the AZ.U.R or the ultimate dining destination, The Observatory set on the 52nd floor, this inspiring 360 degree restaurant and bar is the pinnacle of culinary excellence.

“The performance should be similar if not better than last year,” says Laila Suhail, the chief executive of Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (Depe). “Yes, DSF [Dubai Shopping Festival] was really positive this year, for different reasons. One of them being the Arab Spring. The whole UAE has been impacted by this and we had really good numbers of visitors coming, across the UAE.”

Last year, DSF added Dh15bn to Dubai’s economy, according to a survey by YouGov Siraj and commissioned by the Depe. Ms Suhail says this year is likely to be even better, as occupancy at hotels in malls was about 100 per cent and retailers all reported an increase in sales compared with the year before.

With the Shopping Festival and the city’s Summer Surprises both flourishing in recent years, the Depe has now begun work promoting its latest brand, the Dubai Calendar.

Launched last year, but now being heavily promoted, Dubai Calendar is an online website and print magazine that details every event in the emirate during the full year.

Here, Ms Suhail explains how the calendar works and why it will boost spending for retailers and hoteliers further.

q You recently began heavily marketing the DubaiCalendar.ae. What is it and why is it important for tourism and retail in Dubai?

a Dubai is a vibrant city and there’s so much happening every day, so there was a necessity to have an online reference for tourists, business travellers, organisers. To have one single resource of information where they can check what’s happening. Dubai Calendar has details on concerts, sports events, exhibitions and everything that is going on in Dubai.

You launched the calendar last year, but have only now been promoting it. What have you been doing?

We have been on a very aggressive marketing campaign. We launched a smartphone application that has had 10,000 downloads since the start of the year. We have launched a Dubai Calendar magazine and leaflet that offers different content in a print format, because not everyone is savvy with online.

The management of DP World, UAE Region, which operates Port Rashid, successfully implemented a plan to handle all five vessels at once in close coordination with Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing, or DTCM, Dubai Customs, Dubai World Security, The Roads & Transport Authority, or RTA, and travel and tour operators.

DTCM organised Emirati folk music, dances and other cultural activities much to the delight of the visitors.

Help desks were set up offering the guests tourist information in different languages. In October 2011, DP World announced plans to expand the Port Rashid cruise terminal facilities in order to strengthen its leading position as the largest cruise hub in the Middle East. DP World’s is vision for Port Rashid to eventually be able to serve as many as seven cruise vessels at one time.

Mohammed Al Muallem, senior vice president and managing director, DP World, UAE Region said: “The success in handling five mega passenger vessels simultaneously confirms Port Rashid’s ability to embrace the growth in cruise tourism. It is a clear sign of Dubai’s position as a cruise destination of choice. Our expansion plans for Port Rashid are in line with Dubai Government’s efforts to make cruise tourism an economic growth engine. DP World is committed to investing long term in the transformation of Port Rashid towards this end with the support and close cooperation of DTCM, our strategic partner in promoting the cruise industry in Dubai.”

Mohammed Al Mannaei, director – Port Rashid, DP World, UAE Region, said: “Welcoming multiple cruise ships and taking care of thousands of passengers at one time are challenges that we embrace with enthusiasm. Our highly-trained staff members and baggage handling teams worked in tandem with our partners to ensure that our honoured cruise guests experienced a memorable visit to Dubai. We look forward to more such visits.”

Early this year, Dubai Cruise Terminal was voted, for a fifth time, the World’s Leading Cruise Port at the prestigious World Travel Awards, competing against 17 regional winners for the honour.

“Now there are studies for various opportunities to acquire international carriers… if they fit the Dubai business model,” United Arab Emirates news agency WAM cited the airline’s chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum as saying.

“Anything to do with aviation and our business, if it is at the right price, we are always interested,” Sheikh Ahmed said at an aerospace conference in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.

But the Dubai government-owned carrier was not in talks with any Indian airline at the moment, he said.

India’s cabinet is expected to make a decision on whether to allow foreign airlines to buy stakes in local carriers this week.

Emirates is the world’s largest customer of the Airbus A380 superjumbo. It ordered 90 A380 aircraft in 2010, with about 70 yet to be delivered.

Khader Mattar, Regional vice president, Sales, Middle East, India & Africa for Bombardier Business Aircraft, said the Dubai Airport Freezone,  the Middle East’s fastest growing free zone,  has become a globally recognised investment hub for many successful international companies.

“The Freezone’s unique geographical advantage, together with superior facilities and amenities, has made this an ideal location for Bombardier’s new Business Aircraft sales office. This expanded presence in the region supports the increase of our market share in the Middle East and will help us be closer to our clients,” he added

Nasser Al Madani, assistant director general of Dubai Airport Freezone, said the Freezone has created a business ambience that is supportive of and productive for international companies who are setting up for the first time or expanding base in the region.

“The unique location of Dubai Airport Freezone, both as a city centre base and a stone’s throw from Dubai International Airport, has established it as an excellent choice within this market. The Freezone has the ability to provide seamless customs processes, complete license and visa requirements as well as state of the art infrastructure and facilities,” he added.  The Dubai freezone facility brings aircraft technical expertise, flight operations support and customer account management functions closer to its customers.

At the Dubai Airshow in 2011, Bombardier, a world leader in the design, manufacturing and support of innovative aviation products for the business, said it would focus emerging markets for its new C-series of jets.

The Canadian aircraft manufacturer said it was on track to launch its C-series in 2012 despite tough conditions. More than 50 per cent of the company’s order backlog of 262 belong to markets outside North America and Western Europe.

Bombardier’s 2011-2030 market forecast predicts that while starting from a small base, the Middle East and Africa will capture seven per cent, or 980 of the 13,100 worldwide deliveries expected in the 20- to 149-seat market segment.

“Aviation is a major industry in the region and although the spotlight to date has been on the long-range and wide-body fleets, there remains a tremendous potential for growth in intra-regional and domestic services throughout Africa and the Middle East,” a Bombardier executive has said at the air show.

Bombardier’s Q-Series and CRJ aircraft fleets in the region already serve a wide range of air transport needs including resource industry charters, short- and medium-haul hub feed and point-to-point airline service.”

Including aircraft on firm order, Bombardier fleet in the region includes more than 180 Dash-8/Q-Series and CRJ aircraft.  A Bombardier spokesperson said as the airlines in the region continue to grow, the plane-maker anticipates that they would also seek efficient single-aisle, mainline aircraft such as Bombardier’s CSeries family of airliners to expand their networks.

Managed by the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment (DEPE), the Dubai Calendar website (www.dubaicalendar.ae) operates as a portal through which Dubai retailers can freely announce promotions, events and activities to their customers.

During DEPE’s promotional tour with the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in the Far East, which included Hong Kong and Singapore, major travel and tourism companies discussed the value of the calendar for international tour operators.

Senior officials from participating companies were impressed with the unique governmental initiative, commenting on the easy to use interface that provides comprehensive information regarding Dubai’s activities and events, it said.

Officials at the Dubai Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM) have announced figures outlining the local tourism industry’s impressive performance in the first three quarters of 2011, thereby consolidating the position of Dubai on the world tourism map.

Khalid a bin Sulayem, DTCM director general, said: “The stellar performance of Dubai’s tourism industry is a testimony to the aggressive promotional and marketing drive the department has been pursuing to enhance the number of tourists to the destination by tapping established and emerging markets across the world.

“The impressive gains made during the January-September period last year reflect the inspiring public-private sector partnership to tap the tourism potential of Dubai.”

Dubai hotels played host to a total of 6.64 million guests in the first three quarters of 2011, up by 11 per cent compared with the corresponding period in 2010.

Guest nights rose by 26 per cent over the period to reach 23.9 million, while the average length of stay increased by 14 per cent. Revenue at hotels in the emirate also increased by 19 per cent to AED10.96 billion.

The number of hotel establishments increased by one per cent to 573.

With new airlift coming on stream, hotels opening and new events being added to the already impressive events calendar, it is little wonder Dubai has bounced back this year.

Hotel Boom

Despite some shaky moments in the last two years, hoteliers in Dubai have been rediscovering their optimism of late. Some 13,200 new rooms are presently under construction in the emirate, with suppliers confident demand will be sufficient to make new properties viable.

The emirate is developing a reputation as something of a safe haven in a region rocked by insecurity, with Al Habtoor Group unveiling the $1.33 billion mega project – Habtoor Palace – earlier this year.

Opening in 2015 and comprising three luxury hotels with a total of 1,612 rooms, the development will add to a number of new hotels opening along the Sheikh Zayed Road.

In the same area, the JW Marriott Marquis will become the tallest hotel in the emirate when it opens later this year, with the first of the 1,614 rooms scheduled to receive guests in the fourth quarter.

“The hotel will fill a long identified gap in the market where groups, meetings and conventions of up to 1,000 people can meet, sleep and dine under one roof, in one location,” explained Rupprecht Queitsch, general manager of the hotel.

“There are businesses of this size choosing various cities around the world in which to meet, but until now, Dubai has not had a single location of this size to accommodate this type of group. In simple terms, we will establish Dubai on the global conference market landscape.”

Monterosso, ridden by the French jockey he personally picked, Mickael Barzalona, cruised to victory in the $10 million Dubai World Cup. In a CNN interview right off the winner’s circle at Meydan, the Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates told me, “My heart was in my throat at that time and I didn’t know what to say but thank God we won it and everybody has won – all of the country – I’m double happy now!”

“Double happy” because the Godolphin stables took one and two after not winning since 2006. The President of the UAE called to send his congratulations knowing how passionate Sheikh Mohammed is about his racing empire.

The state-of-the-art facility was filled to the rafters with just over 80,000 spectators, who were entertained in Dubai style, including a dazzling fireworks and dance show which included a neon lit, acrobatic plane that criss-crossed the night skies in front of the grandstand.

The Dubai World Cup is one piece of a grand puzzle that Sheikh Mohammed has assembled over the past two decades to build out the brand of his emirate. Key pieces include: Emirates Airline, one of the largest in the world, the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, and the Palm Jumeirah, the near-shore housing and tourism development in the shape of a palm tree.

The chairman of the company that built the Burj Khalifa and the largest developer in the country, Emaar, Mohammed Alabbar says that the race “adds that important element, heritage, tourism, Dubai, horses, the Middle East, all one in the same.”

But is this translating into a full recovery for Dubai after the 2009 debt troubles?

The answer is mixed. Emaar’s profits were down 27% in 2011, with the glut in apartment rentals eating into its bottom line. Apartment sales were down 85%, single family villa sales were up the same, a sign property strategists say that excess inventory still needs to be worked through.

But Alabbar says all the other key components for Dubai point to the bottom having been hit and the arrow pointing to faster growth than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is suggesting for 2012 of 2.5% for the UAE overall.

Loads jumped 6.5 per cent to 157,492 tonnes compared with 147,937 tonnes in February last year.

The rise follows an 8 per cent collapse in global air freight volumes for last year, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) figures, released this month. However, economists, airlines and plane makers believe the market is about to rebound, with Middle East carriers building on performances last year that bucked global trends.

“Air traffic globally, including cargo, will be on the road to recovery and there might be some upside surprises,” said Kelvin Lau, a transport analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets in Hong Kong. “The picture will be better in the second half.”

Last year, Middle East carriers enjoyed a 9.4 per cent rise in demand, much of it generated by Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways growing their freight networks.