A one-hour flight linking one of the smallest countries on the planet with its next-door neighbor is the world’s busiest international route.
Planes made 30,537 trips between Singapore and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in the 12 months to February, according to a report by OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd.
That’s the equivalent of 84 flights a day in a city state with a population of just 5.6 million.
The Dubai International to Kuwait City route ranked ninth with 15,332 flights.
In a top-20 list dominated by Asia, the highest-ranking route outside the region ran between New York and Toronto. There were 16,956 flights on that leg. The trip between Dublin and London Heathrow ranked 14th and was the busiest European entry with 14,390 flights.
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In terms of passenger numbers, Hong Kong-Taipei tops the list with 6.5 million people flying that route in the 12-month period, the report showed. That’s followed by Jakarta-Singapore with 4.7 million and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore with 4 million.
Asia is the world’s fastest-growing travel market. But even the most frantic international routes don’t come close to the most popular domestic flights.
The world's busiest air route, bar none, is between Seoul and a tiny island off the coast of South Korea.
Planes made 65,000 trips between the South Korean capital and Jeju island in 2017, according to OAG.
Top 20:
1 Kuala Lumpur-Singapore (30,537 flights)
2 Hong Kong-Taipei (28,887)
3 Jakarta-Singapore (27,304)
4 Hong Kong-Shanghai Pudong (21,888)
5 Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur (19,849)
6 Seoul Incheon-Osaka/Kansai (17,488)
7 Hong Kong-Seoul Incheon (17,075)
8 New York LaGuardia-Toronto Pearson (16,956)
9 Dubai-Kuwait City (15,332)
10 Hong Kong-Singapore (15,029)
11 Bangkok-Singapore (14,859)
12 Bangkok-Hong Kong (14,832)
13 Hong Kong-Beijing (14,543)
14 Dublin-London Heathrow (14,390)
15 Osaka/Kansai-Taipei (14,186)
16 New York JFK-London Heathrow (13,888)
17 Osaka/Kansai-Shanghai Pudong (13,576)
18 Seoul Incheon-Tokyo Narita (13,517)
19 Amsterdam-London Heathrow (13,170)
20 Chicago O’Hare-Toronto Pearson (13,100)
Read the report:
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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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The specs: 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
Price, base / as tested Dh220,000 / Dh320,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission 10-speed automatic
Power 421hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 678Nm @ 3,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.1L / 100km
