Investing in real estate
 

Hello all.

Now that it seems feasible to buy instead of renting house/flats in the UAE do you have any good advice when doing business with the real estate dealers or developers/contractors?
Any one badly "burnt" :eek:
Is it expensive to run properties, f.ex. property taxes, insurance, water, electricity etc.?
Is it maybe something one should avoid at all costs?
All information much appreciated.

Cheerio.

Emirates College
 

"Tow-bar
I just wanted to ask. Who knows, what is going on in Emirates Aviation College? I heard, that they have closed the ATC department. Who knows the reasons?"

Unfortunately yes the ATC college at Emirates has closed. It is a shame as they were just starting to get going properly with a decent instructor. A few things happened which helped those high up to make the decision, but ultimately it was linked to the credit crunch and emirates cutting back on expenditure.

Dubai - Jebel Ali SERCO Contract
 

Rumours are SERCO have finally signed the much awaited contract, which was extended from 31st Dec 2008...up to 31st May 2009.....

Payrise has been mentioned........ but don't hold your breath, if one thinks it will reflect the inflation!

New office management re-shuffle.....

Uncle E retiring, & 'snakes & ladders' the order of the day, in the office.....

Jebel Ali personnel.......?????

New SUP too in new position......

What else??? unpaid leave?

We have no grass...

Based on the other thread you started Canoehead, any grass we did have I think you smoked! :ooh:

Fox3
 

Good to see you back dude. How was Monaco, up to your expectations I trust.:)
From his posts, I think mushrooms and grass are nowhere near strong enough for canoehead.

Foxy, I was simply finishing a thread originally titled GUAE-ACC which (I suppose), the moderators have deleted.
It involved an epic battle between a Gaul (masquerading as a Brit), a bunch of Afrikaners, and a not so great Dane. It was getting quite nasty, actually...

And as for the grass, I say again, we have none. I think...:)

Oooooooh....now I understand, I think! :p

Yip back again Roj, Monaco was quite a distraction as you would expect :E

hei Yahoo

Presently the grass is definitely NOT greener.......

With the so called increase of 3% for line crews & 5% for Senior Officers & +, it definitely does NOT reflect on the Inflation......

& to DWC Staff, it's definitely just sand & NO grass!!

At least we got a long contract signed for a good couple of years!!

I completely agree with Yellow`s sentiments. Dubai is not only somewhere that you can live a lifestyle not possible in Uk but also surprisingly easy to get by on a tight budget if you have to.

One thing that I would add to the above is and for me one of the biggest reasons to recommend the place is simply the quality and experience of the controllers that I work with as in that respect it is an outstanding unit.

The grass is so green that my maid has trouble getting it off my golf shoes!!

Green grass of home
 

There is no doubt that in terms of money there is nowhere better to be than Dubai (even with just 3% increase). As for lifestyle it all depends what you are in for. This place which resembles nothing else but a plastic jungle, is nice if you like shopping and hanging out. If you are the outdoor type then you are locked in for 6 months a year. Of course you can play golf at this time of the year (get a good deal) and get a third degree sunburn or die of severe dehydration. I guess if you are from the U.K. or anywhere really north its much much better than the dreary drizzle and the cloudy skies you get home.

Still noone can deny its a country with no soul and I have heard it so many times now I cannot but agree wholeheartedly.

Holy Crap......ye are a Jolly bunch (pardon the intended pun!!!!)

Do I hear the subtle sound of someones rattle being flung to the floor??? Did someone crap their nappy???

I completely agree with Yellow Snow and Tower Ranger....We've heard it ALL before. You won't get a better lifestyle, (well you probably will, but, i'm here and not there!!). Your earning damn good money here. High cost
of living my arse! Yes there are issues such as the high cost of schooling, etc. But you tell me you'd be better off back at home. Well? I think not. Many of my buddies are envious of the position i'm in given the circumstances elsewhere. I say again...if your not happy, go home! Its that simple...

Now i'm off to the beach to watch the sunset......

It would be ideal if one knows the FAA SALARIES... & then certainly one comes to grips to reality, as they are much better than the Salaries here...

The difference lies in the so called 'tax-free' world we are in.......

'tax-free'......... on income ONLY!

FAA salaries so much better??? I think not, especially not on an hourly basis! Sure there are probably some on $200,000 a year (also in Canada) but that means a LOT of overtime and way less leave to start with. Also consider the difference between the old FAA salaries and that being applied to new joiners.

If you have a straight choice between Serco Dubai and NATS, I'd pick Dubai every time.

@ANSA

You really need to learn how to read in between the lines!

Try again......:}

I was old pay scale FAA - one of the highest paid employees at the busiest facilities. I take home more money in the UAE and spend more quality time with my family in the states now ( a couple of uninterupted weeks a year).

And to the Verci guy - I've been here for 9 months. I've never met you. I'm sure you think your past presence here is some great talking point/story/bar tale - but you are a nobody here. I don't know your real name. All I know is that when I looked at moving here all I found was negative stuff by you. I fear alot of people see your negative posts and think it's real. Fortunately, you don't seem to know what your talking about. Please shut up and stop talking about OUR unit. Not yours. You are gone.

ISaid...

You da man!! Well summed up, the Vercibindorkeswankurus is as unwelcome now as he was then! :D

Yes!

At last this thread has got interesting again, instead of all the crap that's been on here for the past few months.

We all know what kinda sh!t NATS offers to its staff...somehow the PENSION comes to my mind, so we do not even want to go there!

I agree with most of you about the 3% & the other 5% increase, is somewhat :D , as we all know in what financial crisis the world is in. However, one must also remember that we were verbally told that a potential increase would reflect the inflation +/- around 10%, AND FROM 1st JANUARY 2009.....

Or is it that some of us have forgotten this?

Anyway, 'beggars can't be choosers', we are all riding the same wave, & hopefully things will turn for the better around us!

What our mates down @ DWC have gone through is rather harsh, but let's really see when this Mega Airport (if it will really be MEGA) will finally open...

And what does our CONTRACT really mean? just a piece of paper???? ready to be binned?

You really hit the nail on the head Tin-bullet there. We were promised at least 10% from January and I am one who did not forget that. Now all the office guys get 5% while we sweat it out with three. Not bad!!

As for the contract's worth, just ask the DWC guys what they were promised (over and over again) and what they got eventually, it says a lot about Serco and its management.

Serco will always be a profit making company but if it starts playing about with contracts as it feels best then we are going to go back to the times when people were not even thinking of coming here.

Still a good deal for now but ears and eyes open for whom you cannot trust!

Verci - Its summer have a holiday. Don't get so worked up on ghosts of Xmas past, Whats your point anyway you are getting boring!

ANSA - we would like this thread to be about Dubai really. Slagging matches etc for the lobby please.

Thanks guys.

The last scene from the play "Yesterdays Man; a study of impotence, ineffectiveness, failure and bitterness".

Ensemble (puzzled): "Iain who?"

Long silence, punctuated by the sound of tumbleweeds tossed in the wind.

Curtain.

The End.

Verci,

For God's sake, give it a rest.

If you have nothing better to say than the usual invective re: the DANS and his adviser (we all know they're TW*TS, you don't have top keep telling us) and/or pushing the Aussies' buttons, then please do take a holiday, enjoy the theakstones and let the rest of us have a civilised conversation without your incessant interruptions. :mad:

Whether you like it or not, the lunatics are running the asylum. You may no longer be an inmate but others here are and prefer to do what they can to improve the system as and where possible. Don't knock them for that.

Ferris

Priceless :ok:

:sad: Ummmm...Verci, I got a call from the Samaritans and they said you were in here talking to yourself and to drop a line and see how you are getting on.

I volunteer for them and having also been described as a complete joke in management before my breakdown, know what you are going through.

The 2nd last stage of social disgrace and helplessness (The last stage is advocating that you were once a controller in Heathrow which will be just embarrassing for everyone concerned!) is venting on Pprune hoping that poetry and outdated sad stories of your plight will get you back on the pedestal.

Unfortunately by all accounts you never have, was or will be anything but a tick on the back of a mongrel dog sniffing the skip bins in Khalifa city.

Please, please call us now on 02 4054590 and talk to one of our operators who will quite gladly tell you where to go.

:rolleyes:

Do you have the time to listen to me whine
About nothing and everything all at once
I am one of those
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone
No doubt about it

Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up

Am I just paranoid?
Or I'm just stoned

I went to a shrink
To analyze my dreams
She says it's lack of sex that's bringing me down
I went to a whore
She said my life's a bore
And quit my whining cause it's bringing her down

Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up

Am I just paranoid?
Or I'm just stoned

Grasping to control
So I better hold on

Sometimes I give myself the creeps
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Or I'm just stoned

Jors, as you are well aware, most here tolerated Verci's rants back when they contained information. I use the word 'tolerated' because we all know that he is a coward. Before he was dismissed due to incompetence, he was gleefully part of Stromboli's empire ie. a talentless boot-licker too afraid to open his mouth, and only too eager to do Stromboli's bidding. Now that he has died by the sword that he lived by, he is bleating relentlessly here on pprune, sniping impotently from afar. As his posts contain less information/outright disinformation these days (his source obviously got the chop, too), and have descended into little more than ultra-repetitive, theakstones-induced rants, I guess the tolerance level will decrease.

BTW, Verci, someone who sends PMs threatening to pay thugs to beat up/'take care of' others is a text-book coward. Schoolboy-mentality cowardice. Sums you up, really.

Ferris, you are wasting your breath explaining it to Jors.

Just direct it to Verci, its the same guy.... I mean its gotta be, who else is going to defend him! :}

Wreaks of Verci....:E

But I have to say I am getting dizzy here, this thread just keeps going round, and round and...well you get the idea! :ooh:

I am an innocent bystander but agree that it's a little bit amusing.

Verci and UAE
 

Friends of mine in UAE center (and close to them) say that Verci has more of his finger to the pulse than he did when he was MATCO!:eek:
They also say that that is not saying too much:ugh:

Remember what the Harvard Medical School says about the stages of grief and loss (in this case loss of his job):

1. Disbelief
2. Yearning
3. Anger
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

It would seem that he is right in the middle parts of stage 3 with his bitter attacks on several opposing viewpoints.
Come on fellows, help him through this process, it isn't far to go before he is depressed and then accepts what has happened.

Verci, you have made your position on all matters pertaining to UAE center (some would say be-labored them) they are on record for everyone to see. You do yourself a disservice to attack those now in these jobs (especially the racist remarks) and it reeks of sour grapes to the outsider.:yuk:
It is time to step back from these continuing attacks as they should be unworthy of you.

hayyak

I see this thread is on a smoke break.

I'm a tower and approach rated controller working in Kuwait. I have monitored this forum for sometime and understand that hiring is temporarily at a standstill. I am wondering if being able to catch a quick flight over, and meeting management would help on acquiring any upcoming hiring slots?

Bongodingo,

it depends which facility you are interested in working at. However if you are interested in Dubai/Jebel Ali then go to the link below, as in the thread which you originally posted, has ended as UAE ACC 'personal tick-tack' match.....

check this out;

http://www.pprune.org/atc-issues/377...t-baggage.html

Otherwise, I suggest you try again in this post, if you are more specific to other facilities in the UAE.

:ok:

Reposting in new thread Prowler...

Cheers

Wow, that was epic.

Prowler,

Will follow your advice. Posted on another thread and got nothing...

I am enroute radar controller in Aus, been doing it for 4.5 years or so. Coming up to end of my bond in first half of next year so am looking at options overseas (cancelling SY APP's rec leave for 3 months was SUCH a good move... :rolleyes:) and am looking at UAE. Have a few questions though that I hope to be able to get some help with.

Firstly, for area radar, my understanding is that is only in Abu Dhabi - is that correct? Also, is it only provided by GCAA or are Serco/someone else in on it too?

Flight Global website has some details on what would be offered. It appears that all the allowances (housing, education, etc.) have been rolled into one monthly payment and there is only medical provided on top of that, plus a bonus. Anyone know any more about this? Is it comparable to the previous package with everything separated? Any idea what the story with the bonus is?

Have heaps of other questions but will wait to see if this gets a response first.

Cheers!

Hello WestAus,

Just saw your thread mate so I'll answer your questions as best I can.

The ACC is in Abu Dhabi. Just moved into the new Sheikh Zayed Centre in July. It is the only Area centre in the country. Others in the region are Bahrain, Oman (Muscat to be precise who are also recruiting right now), and Doha which is APP/TWR only.

Two companies provide the service. Primarily the GCAA and then SERCO. GCAA contract SERCO to provide a certain number of controllers and Engineers at the Centre. GCAA and SERCO packages differ slightly. At the end of the day, if you are with GCAA you have more money in your pocket at the end of the month. I won't go into the details here. Packages are generally all inclusive plus Medical benefits. GCAA hav capped their housing allowance at 150kAED per year paid in two installments. SERCO give you an allowance up to 200kAED per year, both deducted from salary. It seems a lot but rents have been decreasing here and will decrease further over time. GCAA offer bonuses to their staff, I think twice yearly (open to correction), equal to one months basic salary. Us SERCO dogs don't get that one!!! (hint hint!!!). Lifestyle is great and I certainly won't be leaving here anytime soon.

If you have kids, you must cough up a stupid amount of money for schooling. It varies between abou 18k per year per child in Dubai and Au Dhabi to around 60k pere year per child. Maybe even more. (Can't advise on this one bud as I'm still a fan of Durex!!!!!)

Overall the work is great and you'll really enjoy yourself here as long as you can put aside all the things that will make you itch and scream.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. I'll do me best.

Now back to the beach.......:cool:

Thanks me matey! Hope you had a good 'International Talk Like A Pirate' Day! :ok: and will do on the PMs....

Hi Jors

1. Verci seems to be pushing certain peoples buttons and that I find him amusing in a Borat kind of way. You know - says and does totally insane and outrageous stuff that should be either laughed at or ignored, yet he still manages to ruffle some feathers.
2. but no, you keep buying his tickets
3. It appears that you're all so wrapped up in this nonsense that you all think someone else is someone else who's masquerading as someone else and the dirty laundry justs keeps flapping.

Never were 'Troolier' words spoken.

It's fun to push buttons and provide amusement at the same time.
Can only surmise that the response to 'button pushing' is because of the underlying truth.:ouch:
I quote from a recent correspondence with the MATCO on the subject "we have just done what the Irish, Australians and Swedes were not able to do, and that is a transition to a new centre without full system failure. We achieved what those centres plus many more failed to achieve by transtioning to an advanced ATC system without a full system failure".
(The Italicised spelling is that of the MATCO).

That explains the recent power outage then and the attendent firing of the duty engineer to cover up managment failures. Uhm:ugh:

Kattar Kid

Friends of mine in UAE center (and close to them) say that Verci has more of his finger to the pulse than he did when he was MATCO!

In other words, unsubstantiated second hand vicarious untruths.

However, can only say that it is difficult to have any sort of pulse when Stromboli has his foot on one's carotid artery!!

Also, that's a big No No to Nos 1 - 5. Hard to go with No 4, especially when sitting on a beach with an evenly balanced diet, i.e. glass of champagne in either hand.

P.S. Re racist remarks, := I used to only know lager spelt one way but since encountering the then Training section I now know that in Afrikaans there are two spellings. i.e. lager & laager. I like the former but not the latter nor the attitudes associated with it.
N.B. Don't forget that my wife is an asian babe.:cool:
Wonder how that would go down on a holiday in Seff Afrika, not!!
Also check out MATCO's comments above re Irish, Australians and Swedes!!


Cheers to all my readers.

To infinty and beyond and, hopefully, back in time for a pint of Theakstones Old Peculiar.

ANSA,

Thanks for that. How often does the bonus get paid? Is it generally paid or withheld as a carrot for the next year?

Have seen that there is an Aussie school in Abu Dhabi - any info on it? At this stage, any move will only be for a short term and so would prefer to keep the kids going with their current curriculum if we can.

And when you talk pros and cons, I assume you mean going with Serco versus GCAA and not pros/cons about going to the sandpit at all??? If so, have some reading to do! :}

Any idea how long the waiting list is for either? If they are advertising does that mean they have run through their current list and are topping it up? Might sound like ridiculous questions but I have no idea how they recruit people (was lucky enough to basically walk into the RAAF and then from there to AsA) so just trying to get some background info.