Emirates will take delivery of 14 more A380s over the next two years, the company said. As a consequence and given the lack of order backlog with other airlines, Airbus will cease deliveries of the A380 in 2021.

Emirates has also decided to continue growing with Airbus’ newest generation, flexible widebody aircraft, ordering 40 A330-900 and 30 A350-900 aircraft.

Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders, said: “As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years. This leads to the end of A380 deliveries in 2021.

“The consequences of this decision are largely embedded in our 2018 full year results.

“The A380 is not only an outstanding engineering and industrial achievement. Passengers all over the world love to fly on this great aircraft. Hence today’s announcement is painful for us and the A380 communities worldwide. But, keep in mind that A380s will still roam the skies for many years to come and Airbus will of course continue to fully support the A380 operators.

Guillaume Faury, President of Airbus Commercial Aircraft and future Airbus CEO, said: “The A380 is Emirates’ flagship and has contributed to the airline’s success for more than ten years.

“As much as we regret the airline’s position, selecting the A330neo and A350 for its future growth is a great endorsement of our very competitive widebody aircraft family.

“Going forward, we are fully committed to deliver on the longstanding confidence Emirates is placing in Airbus.”

Airbus will start discussions with its social partners in the next few weeks regarding the 3,000 to 3,500 positions potentially impacted over the next three years. However, the ongoing A320 ramp-up and the new widebody order from Emirates Airline will offer a significant number of internal mobility opportunities.

The company said in a press release issued on Friday that HelloGold will support Baobab in expanding its financial inclusion services through an integrated savings platform.

HelloGold and Baobab will jointly develop products for Baobab’s 800,000 strong customers across nine countries in Africa. Using its digital financial service infrastructure and experience, HelloGold will support Baobab in expanding its financial inclusion services through an integrated savings platform in 2019.

HelloGold’s gold backed savings and loan financial products will be integrated with Baobab’s mobile phone app, to be launched in 2019. Users will be able to easily buy, save and invest in gold, directly on the integrated mobile application, allowing instant and secure access to gold as an alternative savings product.

Arnaud Ventura, CEO and founder of Baobab Group, said: “We are pleased to announce this partnership, which will allow our clients to benefit from new digital services. The possibility to easily save and invest in gold is an additional key offered to our clients to unleash their potential. This collaboration with HelloGold will allow us to integrate this saving offer in the 9 African countries we are working with.”

Baobab operates 1140 service points in Africa and has disbursed more than EUR 940 million in loans to the underbanked and unbanked (including micro entrepreneurs, youth and women).

The company provides a wide range of digital and mobile solutions for customers in Africa and China to simply, quickly and safely manage their finances.

HelloGold CEO Robin Lee, said: “Our partnership with Baobab demonstrates HelloGold’s capacity to provide financial solutions for our current and prospective partners. While we bring financial products on our technology, we support our partners in the building of their own offerings, providing differentiated value and services on their platforms. We use blockchain technology to enable our customers to access affordable financial products and services, starting with gold. HelloGold’s mission is to democratise essential savings and lending products for the underserved and the unbanked in emerging markets through digitisation. With our shared vision, Baobab is a perfect partner.”

Accelerated by mobile phones and digitisation, financial inclusion is on the rise globally. The World Bank has a goal of Universal Financial Inclusion by 2020 and Africa has been at the forefront, with mobile-driven financial inclusion growing by 20 per cent over the past six years. Through this partnership, Baobab and HelloGold intend to grow and explore financial inclusion in more markets on the continent.

Setting a new tempo for brand expression, Mastercard debuts its sonic brand identity, a comprehensive sound architecture that signifies the latest advancement for the brand, according to its press release.

Wherever consumers engage with Mastercard across the globe – be it physical, digital or voice environments – the distinct and memorable Mastercard melody will provide simple, seamless familiarity.

The news comes on the heels of the company’s recent transition to a symbol brand and is part of its continued brand transformation.

“Sound adds a powerful new dimension to our brand identity and a critical component to how people recognize Mastercard today and in the future,” said Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s chief marketing and communications officer,

“We set out an ambitious goal to produce the Mastercard melody in a way that’s distinct and authentic, yet adaptable globally and across genres. It is important that our sonic brand not only reinforces our presence, but also resonates seamlessly around the world.”

Global Resonance, Local Relevance

To ensure the Mastercard melody would resonate with people the world over, the firm tapped musicians, artists and agencies from across the globe, including musical innovator Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park.

The result, a distinct and memorable melody that is adaptable across genres and cultures, making it locally relevant while maintaining a consistent global brand voice.

In addition, the use of varying instruments and tempos help to deliver the Mastercard melody in several unique styles such as operatic, cinematic and playful as well as a number of regional interpretations.

The melody is the foundation of the company’s sound architecture and will extend to many assets, from musical scores, sound logos and ringtones, to hold music and point-of-sale acceptance sounds.

“What I love most about the Mastercard melody, is just how flexible and adaptable it is across genres and cultures,” said Mike Shinoda. “It’s great to see a big brand expressing themselves through music to strengthen their connection with people.”

A Digital Brand for a Digital Consumer

With voice shopping set to hit $40 billion by 20221, audio identities not only connect brands with consumers on a new dimension, they are tools enabling consumers to shop, live, and pay in an increasingly digital and mobile world.

“Audio makes people feel things, and that’s what makes it such a powerful medium for brands, said Matt Lieber, Cofounder and President, Gimlet. “With the explosion of podcasts, music streaming, and smart speakers, an audio strategy is no longer a “nice-to-have” for brands – it’s a necessity. A sonic identity — the audio calling card for a brand — is now just as important as a brand’s visual identity.”

Melody came to life during GRAMMY Week

During the 61st GRAMMY Awards, Mastercard has launched a new multi-channel marketing program starring GRAMMY-nominated artist Camila Cabello, who is the first creative output to feature the brand’s sound logo.

“I am so excited to be partnering with Mastercard and being able to offer new opportunities to fans.” said Cabello.

Following the U.S. introduction, the Mastercard sound will head to The BRIT Awards in London and then Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Additional activations and sonic integrations will be announced around the world in the coming months, including the launch of Mastercard’s first smart speaker skill for priceless.com.

To learn more about the evolution of the Mastercard brand and to hear the suite of sounds that make up the Mastercard audio identity, please visit our Digital Press Kit.

In a press release issued on Friday, Professor Piyamitr Sritara, MD, Dean of Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, said: “The food development project is our innovation for society. We, together with CPF, set out to produce safe food for patients and offer convenience to patients and their relatives.

“We have fed in-patients with our product and the patients satisfactorily gained strength. Under the cooperation, we will first launch Smart Soup-branded chicken soup with pumpkin and egg, which was the formula of Ramathibodi Hospital’s nutrition department. The product will be available to anyone, for the benefits of ill persons and their caretakers.”

Driving the cooperation was constraints involved with the preparation of liquid food for the hospital’s in-patients who need liquid food or tube feeding.

The preparation process was time-consuming and the output could not meet demand. Meanwhile, “food with full nutrients for patients” is a key in quickly restoring patients’ strengths. The university thus sought help from a private company which has capacity in producing safe food, and technology and innovation that can extend product life cycle.

Both parties conducted a joint research to bring the project to life, which reduced the food preparation process for patients’ greater convenience.

Associate Professor Surasak Leela-Udomlipi, MD, Director of Ramathibodi Hospital, added that liquid food is generally imported. Aside from the high price, it comes in powder form which must be dissolved with water.

In contrast, the chicken soup with pumpkin and egg that the hospital invented jointly with CPF contains all nutrients necessary for patients’ recovery and costs at a much cheaper price. Convenience is also an attractive point, as the soup is ready to eat or load to the feeding tube, which reduces a chance of contamination to some extent.

Another point is the hospital’s liquid food has a life as short as 24 hours: it must be stored at 2-6 degrees Celsius at all time. CPF’s innovation allows the storage at room temperature and the product can last 12 months. It cuts short the hospital’s food preparation process.

Meanwhile, patients and relatives can stock up the food without making frequent visits to the hospital. The soup will be first available at Ramathibodi Hospital’s health shop and then at other hospitals of Mahidol University.

Sukhawat Dansermsuk, CPF’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for food business and Co-President, said that CPF is an internationally-recognised safe food producer. Its research team is capable of inventing health food to address the demand of all groups of consumers.

CPF took pride in joining hands with Ramathibodi Hospital to develop products for patients, as this project is deemed a social product that benefits patients, their relatives, physicians and the public health as a whole. To produce good and safe food for society in a sustainable manner, CPF will utilise its advanced production technology in this project. For example, retort technology is applied to extend the soup’s life cycle.