Dubai: Queen Elizabeth II has honoured two British citizens who live in the UAE for their services to the British aviation industry and the UAE's medical and health sector.
An aviation veteran, Sir Maurice Flanagan, executive vice-chairman of Emirates Group, was bestowed the rank of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, the order's second highest chivalry rank, for his contribution to the industry and exports for Britain.
Sir Maurice was earlier named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the community of the UAE.
"I've been in aviation for over 50 years. I keep getting awards for long service. I think they just say, ‘there's that fellow Flanagan, he's not dead yet, we better give him an award'," he said earlier in an interview with the Times Online.
Royal Air Force
He performed his national service in the Royal Air Force as a navigator and commissioned officer. Following that, in 1953, he joined the British Overseas Airways Corporation, the forerunner of present-day British Airways.
After 25 years with the carrier in a senior management position, Dubai's travel and airport management company Dnata hired him.
A few years later he was appointed to spearhead the establishment of what would become one of the largest airlines in the world.
Sir Maurice helped the development of the Emirates Group, led by chairman Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, under the orders of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
With a government start-up capital of $10 million, the airline has grown in the past 25 years under his tutelage to be recognised as one of the leading names in the aviation industry, with a fleet of 142 aircraft.
Last year, the Emirates Group recorded net profits of Dh4.2 billion at an annual increase of 248 per cent, and the airline reported profits of Dh3.5 billion on revenues of Dh43.5 billion.
The other honour bestowed on a UAE resident was that on Dr Maha Taysir Barakat, co-founder of Abu Dhabi's Imperial College Diabetes Centre.
She was honoured as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to medical research, training and public health in the UAE.
The Queen's birthday honours are bestowed each year under the star of the Order of the British Empire under the motto "For God and the Empire."
It currently has about 100,000 living members worldwide.
