Five talking points from the week in UAE business

Courtesy Airbus

Courtesy Nakheel

Will the car commute between Dubai and Abu Dhabi become history? AP

Andrew Yates / AFP

This week we take a look at leasing and buying cars, the world’s longest flight, the Hyperloop, the UAE’s brand performance and Manchester City.

Buy a car to save money

In last week's Money section, we asked the question all car owners have on their mind: is it cheaper to buy a car or lease? The answer is not as straightforward as it seems. While the leasing company portrayed in the feature was anxious to stress that leasing was the better option, it really depends on how long you plan to be in the UAE and what type of car you want to drive. However, the conclusion made by the writer was that if you only plan to live in the Emirates for a year or so, you are better off leasing as the monthly cost includes all the registration fees, insurance, maintenance and servicing costs. And we all know that buying a car and then selling it shortly after is never a good idea. If, on the other hand, an expat is planning to stay here for four years or more, then they are probably better off buying a car so that at least they have some equity in the vehicle when the time comes to sell. Alice Haine

Airlines going the distance

We rather enjoyed putting together a graphic of what you can do on Emirates' soon-to-be-in-service Panama flight which will become the world's longest next year. But now we may have to do another after Singapore Airlines said it has ordered the new ultra-long range Airbus A350-900 which will make it all the way to New York from Singapore. It won't be delivered until 2018, but when it is it will have the capability to stay in the sky for 19 hours - nearly an hour and a half more than the Dubai to Panama flight. This could end up turning into a sport - who can endure the most back-to-back longest flights - and is sure to grab the attention of flight tourists around the world. But more importantly, will Emirates follow suit and go for the mega-distance plane, which can revert to the standard specification? It cancelled its order for A350-900s last year but is set to look at it again next year, according to president Tim Clark. Ian Oxborrow

Brand UAE in fine fettle

A consultancy said this week that the UAE has the third strongest brand of any country, behind Singapore and Switzerland. The report by UK-based Brand Finance estimated that the UAE's brand is worth US$403 billion. Qatar came in ninth at $235bn. The report observed that the UAE and Qatar are safe places and have benefited from heavy investment by government, including in big modern airports. Brand Finance also measured brand value, which is a matter of heft whereas brand strength is more about distinctness. On the value list, the US and China finished 1-2, while no Middle East countries made the top 20. And who is rising up the tables? That would be Iran, up 59 per cent in brand value to $159bn. Leading laggards included Ukraine (down 45 per cent) and Russia (down 31 per cent). Rob McKenzie

Loopy new mode of travel

There's been a lot of hype this week, and some of it quite loopy. Yes, I'm talking about the Hyperloop, a mode of transport so futuristic that it looks like it belongs in a sci-fi film, when actually an operational test track is set to be reality in Los Angeles next year. Anyway, the Emirates was paid a visit by Peter Diamandis, co-founder of the United States-based Planetary Resources, who was joined by the chief technology officer and co-founder of Hyperloop Technologies. They excited us all with talk of an Abu Dhabi-Dubai commute that would take a mere 15 minutes and could be "operational by 2020". Compare the journey duration to the 86 minutes it takes by car, or 160 minutes by plane – including transfers – and it sounds like a winning idea. Surely, though, there are many obstacles to overcome, some of which won't present themselves until the track and prototypes are up and running. And do we really want to do away with the fun of commuting which can consist of a blissful hour of listening to the radio, or in the future, reading a book while travelling on Etihad Rail? Ian Oxborrow

City have it right on and off the pitch

Football and finance together hasn't created many positive headlines during the past decade or more. At the very top there's been lurid tales of Fifa corruption, of Sepp Blatter and World Cups, and now of Uefa president Michel Platini. Then there's been the enormous debts taken on by the biggest club sides, transfer bans via failure to comply with Financial Fair Play (Barcelona), and fans complaining of extortionate ticket prices. Further down the food chain there's the lower league strugglers simply trying to stay afloat, collection buckets jangling their way around dilapidated stadiums in a bid to pay for floodlight repairs or cover a tax bill. And so it made a pleasant change to hear of a club heading in the right direction when Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City reported its first profit for seven years since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bought the club in 2008. The club's Dh60.6m after tax profit for the 2014-15 season may not sound huge on football's grand scale. But it shows English Premier League leaders City have it right off the pitch as well as on it at the moment. Ian Oxborrow

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