Dubai International Airport (DXB) dethroned Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as the busiest airport in the world, after the longest government shutdown in US history led to massive flight cancellations.
DXB handled 5.29 million seats in November, an increase of five per cent year on year, edging out the Atlanta hub to second place with 5.12 million seats, according to aviation data provider OAG.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has historically ranked as the world's busiest airport by domestic and international passenger traffic. By contrast, Dubai has ranked the world's busiest international hub as it does not handle any domestic traffic.
“We actually exceeded Atlanta … because of the government shutdown, they had to cancel some of their flights,” Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said in an interview at the Dubai Airshow. “I addressed a US delegation the other day and I said 'I've got some terrible news'.”
The now-resolved government shutdown in the US, which lasted a record 43 days, had a disruptive effect on air travel. US airlines cancelled thousands of flights when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered them to reduce schedules to keep air travel safe.
The shutdown cost the US more than $6 billion in lost travel spending and “unnecessary pain for travellers and federal workers”, the US Travel Association said in a November 12 statement.
Annual passenger growth
Meanwhile, DXB expects to end the year with 95.2 million passengers, Mr Griffiths said on Wednesday. “We always have a very strong December, hopefully we may revise that [forecast] again.”
The airport will continue to grow next year, projecting a “conservative estimate” of 99.5 million next year and 101.4 million in 2027, he said.
DXB handled a record number of passengers in the third quarter of this year, with 24.2 million travellers passing through its gates, up 1.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, state-owned operator Dubai Airports said on Wednesday.
Dubai hosted 13.95 million overnight visitors in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 5 per cent from the same period last year, according to the Department of Economy and Tourism. The emirate is seeking to attract more international tourists, while drawing more expatriates to live, work and retire in the city.
DXB, the world's busiest international airport, handled 70.1 million passengers in the first nine months of this year, up 2.1 per cent on the same period last year.
India remained DXB’s top country market in the first nine months of the year with 8.8 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (5.5 million), the UK (4.6 million), Pakistan (3.2 million) and the US (2.4 million).
The airport is focusing on the use of biometrics, AI and technology to funnel more people through its gates more quickly.
During the third quarter, 99.6 per cent of departing travellers cleared passport control in under 10 minutes, and 99.8 per cent of arriving passengers waited less than 15 minutes, Dubai Airports said. Security screening times stayed below five minutes for 99.7 per cent of travellers.
International investments in DWC
Dubai Airports is currently focused on fully developing a new terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), which is expected to become the city’s main international gateway in the early 2030s.
The UK Export Finance (UKEF)'s expression of interest on Tuesday for up to $3.5 billion in funding for the expansion of DWC is a “massively confident” endorsement of the project and British companies that will contribute to construction of the project, Mr Griffiths said.
The export credit finance model will bake it more attractive for the airport and British companies to do business, he said.
The move will also “demonstrate to other international investors that there is an opportunity here”, he said. “There's so much technology going on in the airports and logistics space from all over the world and we're obviously wanting to showcase the very best of it here in Dubai.”
There will probably be other expressions of interest from governments. “Having a positive initial indication from the British government is a statement of confidence.”
Electric flying taxis and tech at DWC
The new airport terminal at DWC will also feature air taxi operations to carry passengers from vertiports at the hub to other destinations in the city to beat road traffic, according to Mr Griffiths.
Dubai is already building a vertiport for eVTOLs near DXB.
“We are building the vertiport behind the Emirates headquarters, near DXB, and we're very excited by that technology. I think it's going to be fantastic. And there would be something similar at DWC, absolutely,” Mr Griffiths said.
The vertiports and vehicles will be part of DWC's new airport master plan and a “major part of our ground and transport infrastructure”.
The design of the new airport is now in its final stages, with a major study under way to examine how the airport will operate, how passengers will get there and facilities such as housing and transport around it.
“An airport is as only as good as its ground to air interface. So if you've got the perfect airport, but you can't get there because the roads and the rail system are not adequate, then you're wasting your time and money,” Mr Griffiths said.
Dubai Airports is working closely with the RTA on the road and rail systems to connect DWC. “We have to start working on those right away,” he said.
DWC will also harness advanced technologies to remove the pain points that passengers face as they pass through an airport such as long queues, long waiting times, unnecessary procedures and removing laptops or shoes out of bags.
“That has no place in a customer-friendly hospitality environment. You don't walk into a five-star hotel and they say, 'take your shoes off.' It's ridiculous, isn't it?” he said.
While there is a need to maintain the highest levels of aviation security, this can be done with modern technology in a more customer-friendly way.
“We're encouraging companies to invest in creating single points of customer relationship, like taking a biometric signature of your face one time from cameras that you can't even see that concealed in the infrastructure,” he said.
“How many industries treat all their customers as crooks until they can prove that they haven't got guns or knives on them? And we all know why, you have to check, but there must be a better and more efficient way of providing an even greater level of security without being that intrusive.”
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
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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.”
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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