Heathrow Airport has endured a harrowing 12 months as the UK experienced a slump in international flights to just over 400,000 a year, almost a million down on 2019.
Cirium, a UK-based consultancy, said on Wednesday that during the slump Britain's busiest route was Heathrow to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, even though UK citizens were banned from the US until November and American residents were only able to resume outbound flights in July.
The resumption of the London to New York route was a lone bright spot as almost four in five Heathrow travellers were absent during the year.
Overall, short-haul flights dominated UK air travel. Ryanair and easyJet, which rely on Heathrow's rival airports, ranked as first and second carriers with 100,000 and 82,000 flights respectively.
The plummeting passenger numbers caused Heathrow's revenue to nosedive, forcing its management into behind-the-scenes negotiations in the hope of raising passenger charges by up to 120 per cent to regain ground.
Earlier this month, the UK's Civil Aviation Authority rejected Heathrow’s proposed figure and instead said £30.19 ($40.5) would be the cap on the price for each traveller from next year – an increase of 54 per cent from the current charge of £19.60.
While airlines vehemently criticised the increase in landing fees and threatened to pull planes from runways, Heathrow bosses said the new price would not be enough to fund the investment needed improve passenger services in the foreseeable future.
Free-falling passenger numbers
In September, Heathrow fell back to tenth place in the ranking of Europe’s busiest airports, having been the most-used aviation hub on the continent in 2019.
From January to the end of November, more than 16.3 million passengers passed through Heathrow – a 78 per cent lower figure than the same period in 2019 when 74.2 million people used the airport.
The highest recording so far this year was in November when the airport served just over three million travellers.
But the onset of more travel restrictions and the return of mandatory testing have thwarted the airport’s bid for a speedy recovery.
In November, the UK government announced it would bring back its red list owing to the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant. The measure meant that all arrivals from 11 African red-list countries had to go into quarantine at a hotel for 10 days upon arrival.
Although the list has since been scrapped, the spread of the Omicron variant in Britain, coupled with health warnings from scientists, have led to people cancelling their travel plans for the Christmas and New Year period.
Heathrow said it had experienced a “high level of cancellations by business travellers concerned about being trapped overseas because of pre-departure testing” which it argued laid bare the “potential harm to the economy of travel restrictions”.
In July, Heathrow said its total losses since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis had reached £2.9 billion.
International obstacles to recovery
The US reopened its doors to fully vaccinated travellers from Britain in November – three months after the UK began welcoming vaccinated Americans for quarantine-free travel.
US President Joe Biden's administration delayed reciprocating, which caused further suffering for Heathrow.
Before the pandemic took hold, London to New York was one of the world’s busiest aviation routes, with about 30 flights a day shuttling across the Atlantic between the two major hubs.
It was also a highly profitable route compared to others, owing to high demand from business travellers.
In the year to April 2019, British Airways alone made more than £710 million from the route.
The UK’s soaring number of Covid-19 cases recently prompted France and Germany to impose travel bans on most travellers from Britain.
The restrictions placed further strain on the UK’s travel industry which had been hoping for a busy festive season.
Dispute over landing fees
The International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways, has threatened to cut flights from Heathrow if it follows through with plans to increase passenger charges, saying it is becoming “more and more expensive” to operate at the airport.
The landing fees are levied by airports on airlines but more often than not end up trickling down to customers in the form of ticket prices.
IAG said that about four in 10 of its passengers using Heathrow are doing so to connect to another flight, therefore it could easily use another airport.
After the CAA announced their interim figure for Heathrow earlier this month, the IAG declined to say if it would follow through on its threat.
But Sean Moulton, an aviation connectivity analyst in London, expressed scepticism about its comments, pointing to the firm's previous rhetoric.
“Over the years, BA have threatened to leave Heathrow but London is a high yield, high demand market,” Mr Moulton told The National.
“Heathrow is extremely slot-constrained and if any airline loses or gives up slots, it becomes very difficult to get them back.
“However, since Covid, airlines are under more pressure to bring costs down and to provide long-term stability. Nevertheless, British Airways will not want to lose its hub at Europe’s busiest airport.”
An increase in passenger charges at Heathrow may lead to lower flight prices for people using other London airports, he said.
Combined, the city’s six airports – Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City and Southend – make it one of the busiest cities in the world by passenger numbers and aircraft movements.
“I think the CAA is allowing Heathrow to raise fees to allow other airports to be more competitive and encourage distribution of airlines across London’s six airports.
“Whilst airlines may pass the cost on to passengers, airlines who are not at Heathrow will be able to benefit from lower fares – and thus improve connectivity from the other parts of London to the rest of the world, whilst allowing Heathrow to remain competitive for freight and business traffic.”
Sally Gethin, a veteran aviation expert, said IAG had made only an “empty threat” and pointed to Heathrow’s international standing.
She said any airline would be reluctant to give slots up after being allocated them owing to the “use it or lose it” policy.
“It is a little bit hubris that airlines would come out and say this,” she told The National. “I find it hard to believe it completely because slots are still in high demand and they go for a lot of money at Heathrow.”
However, she said airlines had a right to push for a better deal for themselves, adding: “It is right that these charges are amply scrutinised, that voices are heard, that airlines are heard.”
“It could be viewed as a power struggle as well in the balance of the relationship between the airport and the airline,” she said.
Can Heathrow survive another lockdown?
Having adapted to significant changes after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the recession between 2007 and 2009, and the Covid pandemic, Heathrow is resilient enough to absorb another shutdown – but only if it raises passenger charges, Ms Gethin said.
She stressed that the “alternative is pretty unthinkable” as Heathrow’s funds would quickly run dry if it was not allowed to charge airlines more to use its facilities.
“Heathrow has to go in hard,” she said. “It’s had to push for the maximum amount that it could get at the time so it’s looking for double that original passenger charge and it came away with less than that, which is obviously some mitigation to airlines.
“It’s not in anybody’s interest for Heathrow to start to decline so it does need to be preserved,” she said.
“I think that Heathrow will have to be very careful though, how it plots it journey ahead now.
“It boasts itself up as this international gateway [but] it’s lost that crown; it fell back during the pandemic.
“In the long run, Heathrow faces a lot of capacity issues because it doesn’t have space to grow,; there’s problems with whether it will ever get a third runway, for example. So, it’s got to manage this infrastructure with fixed costs.”
However, she argued that despite “losing its crown” as Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow still boats “unbeatable connections” particularly to the Gulf states and the Asia-Pacific region, which may help it regain its international standing in the coming years.
She said the increase in charges should serve as a “reminder that it does need some support, and if the government is not willing to provide that, then it’s got this other route, which is charges and of course airlines don’t have that opportunity.”
A representative for Heathrow told The National that the airport was “extremely disappointed” in the figure the CAA came back with and said the regulator had relied on “rushed analysis” to reach its conclusion.
“As an example, the CAA’s flawed analysis assumes that operating costs at Heathrow next year will be £173m lower than our budget,” they said. “This is even lower than we were able to achieve in 2020, when we served half as many passengers with only one runway and two terminals operating and the benefit of a government furlough scheme.
“There are material and basic errors in many aspects of the CAA’s assessment. Uncorrected, this risks leaving Heathrow without sufficient cash flow to support investment in improving passenger service and resilience.”
The representative said the CAA’s decision is at odds with forecasts assumed in Heathrow’s recent investor report. Bosses at the airport will conduct further analyses and decide whether to issue an updated report in January.
Heathrow is in the process of putting forward a “detailed submission” to the CAA in the hope of receiving a “more considered outcome when it makes its final decision in spring 2022”.
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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HAJJAN
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How Beautiful this world is!
Second ODI
England 322-7 (50 ovs)
India 236 (50 ovs)
England win by 86 runs
Next match: Tuesday, July 17, Headingley
Cry Macho
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam
Rating:**
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,600hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.4seconds
0-200kph in 5.8 seconds
0-300kph in 12.1 seconds
Top speed: 440kph
Price: Dh13,200,000
Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport - the specs:
Engine: 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16
Transmission: 7-speed DSG auto
Power: 1,500hp
Torque: 1,600Nm
0-100kph in 2.3 seconds
0-200kph in 5.5 seconds
0-300kph in 11.8 seconds
Top speed: 350kph
Price: Dh13,600,000
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm)
Burnley v Huddersfield Town (7pm)
Everton v Bournemouth (7pm)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace (7pm)
Southampton v Manchester United (7pm)
Stoke City v Chelsea (7pm)
Swansea City v Watford (7pm)
Leicester City v Liverpool (8.30pm)
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Newcastle United (7pm)
Monday
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion (11pm)
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania
Verdict: 4 Stars
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
How%20champions%20are%20made
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EDiet%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3E7am%20-%20Protein%20shake%20with%20oats%20and%20fruits%0D%3Cbr%3E10am%20-%205-6%20egg%20whites%0D%3Cbr%3E1pm%20-%20White%20rice%20or%20chapati%20(Indian%20bread)%20with%20chicken%0D%3Cbr%3E4pm%20-%20Dry%20fruits%20%0D%3Cbr%3E7.30pm%20-%20Pre%20workout%20meal%20%E2%80%93%20grilled%20fish%20or%20chicken%20with%20veggies%20and%20fruits%0D%3Cbr%3E8.30pm%20to%20midnight%20workout%0D%3Cbr%3E12.30am%20%E2%80%93%20Protein%20shake%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20intake%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204000-4500%20calories%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESaidu%E2%80%99s%20weight%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20110%20kg%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStats%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Biceps%2019%20inches.%20Forearms%2018%20inches%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
