London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports are set to have their busiest day of the Christmas holiday period on “Flyaway Friday”, with Dubai the most popular long-haul destination.
December 22 follows the end of the school term and the beginning of the Christmas holiday period.
Gatwick said its favourites are Geneva as the top short-haul destination and Dubai as the preferred choice for long-haul journeys.
Heathrow is set to see 689 flights departing on December 22. The airport anticipates a bustling December, with an expected 6.5 million passengers during the month.
The anticipated influx of travellers signals a return to the levels of air travel last seen before the pandemic.
Heathrow is expected to reach a peak akin to its busiest summer days – handling almost 250,000 passengers on Flyaway Friday.
The airport said the most popular destinations include Dubai and New York JFK.
Despite the anticipated rush, airports like Heathrow have prepared extensively.
A Heathrow official told The National they had special measures in place to cope with the number, including a special plan to accommodate younger guests.
“Sometimes we see children riding on suitcases which is a high risk and not allowed, so we do everything we can to make sure that the journey is smooth for the families and the kids as well,” said the official.
“We've got lots of activities in the airport, including arts and crafts, a polar bear which is controlled by robotics, as well as Santa and his elves.
“They will try to take the stress out of travelling especially for parents. Sometimes it can be stressful getting away over the Christmas period to see family abroad.”
Holiday travellers emerge from pandemic shadows
Outbound flight numbers for this period show a 6 per cent increase from 2022 and a 291 per cent rise from 2021.
This sharp rise reflects a continued recovery and growth in air travel post-pandemic.
Across English schools' summer half-term period – May 27 to June 4 – there are a scheduled 25,606 flight departures from UK airports, illustrating the sector's recovery.
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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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Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
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