• Emirates employees form a '49' on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport. All images courtesy Emirates
    Emirates employees form a '49' on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport. All images courtesy Emirates
  • Emirates staff send UAE National Day greetings from under the wing of a jet in Toyko, Japan.
    Emirates staff send UAE National Day greetings from under the wing of a jet in Toyko, Japan.
  • Socially-distanced greetings from Emirates in Chicago, United States.
    Socially-distanced greetings from Emirates in Chicago, United States.
  • Getting the bunting out in Zurich.
    Getting the bunting out in Zurich.
  • Emirates staff in Bahrain send National Day greetings in front of jet with green Expo2020 Dubai livery.
    Emirates staff in Bahrain send National Day greetings in front of jet with green Expo2020 Dubai livery.
  • UAE National Day greetings from Vienna, Austria.
    UAE National Day greetings from Vienna, Austria.
  • Staff from the Dubai airline in Accra wave the UAE flag ahead of the UAE's 49th National Day
    Staff from the Dubai airline in Accra wave the UAE flag ahead of the UAE's 49th National Day
  • Emirates ground staff in Sao Paulo, Brazil send UAE National Day greetings.
    Emirates ground staff in Sao Paulo, Brazil send UAE National Day greetings.
  • Up and away - Emirates staff in Geneva wave an Emirates flight off with UAE flags.
    Up and away - Emirates staff in Geneva wave an Emirates flight off with UAE flags.

UAE National Day 2020: Emirates celebrations in Dubai, Sao Paulo, Tokyo and Chicago

Ground staff at airports on six continents flew the Emirati flag to mark the UAE's 49th National Day

Hayley Skirka
Hayley Skirka

December 02, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

Emirates Airline took its 49th UAE National Day celebrations to new heights with flag-waving events across six continents.

Staff from the Dubai airline's global teams took to aprons at airports across the world to wave the UAE flag and send congratulations to the UAE on December 2nd.

At Dubai International Airport, Emirates employees kicked off the festivity. Waving UAE flags in various sizes, staff stood in the formation of a number 49 in front of one of the airline's A380 superjumbos.

They were joined in their well-wishing by Emirates's ground operations employees in several countries around the world. In Ghana, employees waved flags and signs that read "UAE 49" as they stood in front of a Boeing 777-300 at Kotoka International Airport in the capital Accra.

Over in neighbouring Bahrain, Emirates employees were pictured with a huge congratulatory sign next to one of the airline's Expo 2020 Dubai-liveried jets.

Emirates staff in Tokyo celebrate the UAE's 49th National Day under the wing of a jet. Courtesy Emirates
Emirates staff in Tokyo celebrate the UAE's 49th National Day under the wing of a jet. Courtesy Emirates

National Day congratulations also came from Switzerland, where Emirates staff stood on the tarmac waving UAE flags below the flight path of a jet that took off from Geneva airport. Greetings also rolled in from Emirates crews in Tokyo, Vienna, Chicago, Zurich and Sao Paulo.

Passengers flying on Emirates jets over National Day will also be able to get in the celebratory spirit. The airline is offering travellers a taste of Emirati cuisine and showcasing locally-inspired entertainment on its in-flight systems.

Emirates is working to resume its network to pre-pandemic levels and is currently flying to 99 destinations across six continents. The airline is gearing up for a busy National Day in terms of passengers, and expects this rise in traveller numbers to continue over the next two weeks as the festive season commences.

Last year, the Dubai airline celebrated UAE National Day by operating a Guinness World Record-breaking flight. The airline flew a 90-minute A380 flight around Dubai which had more than 500 passengers from 145 nationalities on-board. Emirates Airline now holds the world record for having the most nationalities on an aircraft.

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.”

Men’s singles 
Group A: Son Wan-ho (Kor), Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Ng Long Angus (HK), Chen Long (Chn)
Group B: Kidambi Srikanth (Ind), Shi Yugi (Chn), Chou Tien Chen (Tpe), Viktor Axelsen (Den)

Women’s Singles 
Group A: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn), Pusarla Sindhu (Ind), Sayaka Sato (Jpn), He Bingjiao (Chn)
Group B: Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe), Sung Hi-hyun (Kor), Ratchanok Intanon (Tha), Chen Yufei (Chn)

TravelEmiratesLifestyleDUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT