Sharjah Airport handled more than seven million passengers in the first half of 2023, up 24.4 per cent from the same period last year, amid growth in airline customer numbers and a surge in travel demand.
Aircraft movements at the airport also increased, with the number of flights exceeding 46,900, a rise of 14 per cent over the same period in 2022, the Sharjah Airport Authority said.
The numbers are in line with a strategy to “strengthen Sharjah Airport's leading position and achieve sustainable growth in the aviation and cargo sectors … to reinforce Sharjah's position on the world travel map”, the authority's chairman, Ali Al Midfa, said.
A planned expansion of the airport's terminal will increase its annual passenger capacity from eight million to 20 million as part of a push to boost its aviation and air cargo services.
Work on the terminal expansion will start this year and is expected to be completed in 2026, as part of efforts to meet rising travel demand, Mr Al Midfa said in March.
Sharjah Airport is the home of Air Arabia, which posted a record full-year profit for 2022 as the number of passengers it carried surpassed pre-coronavirus levels on strong demand.
Net profit for the year stood at Dh1.2 billion ($327 million), up 70 per cent from Dh720 million in 2021.
To meet the boom in travel demand and improve the hub's operational capacity, the Sharjah Airport Authority announced the addition of six new passenger destinations and three air cargo routes.
“We are optimistic that the addition of more destinations will provide us with more travel and logistics opportunities,” Mr Al Midfa said.
The new passenger destinations are Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Ufa and Samara in Russia, Lar in Iran, Indore in India and Thailand's capital, Bangkok.
The new air cargo destinations are Houston, Rwandan capital Kigali and Nashik in India.
“This move is in line with the authority’s aim of boosting commercial ties and contributing to the economic expansion of Sharjah and the UAE, as well as improving connection with the world through sustainable growth, enhancing the infrastructure and service offerings,” it said.
The UAE is a major travel, tourism and business centre in the Middle East.
The tourism sector contribution to the GDP of the Emirates was 10 per cent, or Dh166.7 billion, in 2022, Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq said last month.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, this will further rise to Dh180.6 billion by the end of 2023, reflecting a growth of 8.3 per cent from the previous year.
The tourism sector created more than 750,000 job opportunities in the country last year, accounting for 12 per cent of the total labour market, Mr bin Touq said.
The transport and storage sector also played a dominant role in the growth of the country's GDP at constant prices in 2022, accounting for the largest share, with a substantial increase of 20.2 per cent from the previous year, he said.
This is due to a surge in the number of international travellers, improved air traffic and higher national airline revenue, Mr bin Touq said.
During the first quarter of 2023, hotels in the UAE generated more than Dh12.2 billion in revenue, up 7 per cent over the same period in 2022, he said.
They welcomed more than 7.2 million hotel guests during the period, an increase of 18 per cent compared with the same period in 2022, and a growth of 3 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
Total hotel nights stood at 26 million in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 6 per cent from the same period in 2022 and 15 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2019.
Moreover, the hotel occupancy rate was about 80 per cent, among the highest when compared with the world's main tourist markets, Mr bin Touq said.
The UAE Tourism Strategy 2031 is a road map to boost the sector's contribution to the country's GDP to Dh450 billion, while attracting new investment worth Dh100 billion to the industry.
Additionally, the strategy aims to welcome 40 million guests by 2031.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
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.”
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
All you need to know about Formula E in Saudi Arabia
What The Saudia Ad Diriyah E-Prix
When Saturday
Where Diriyah in Saudi Arabia
What time Qualifying takes place from 11.50am UAE time through until the Super Pole session, which is due to end at 12.55pm. The race, which will last for 45 minutes, starts at 4.05pm.
Who is competing There are 22 drivers, from 11 teams, on the grid, with each vehicle run solely on electronic power.
Brief scores:
Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)
