The Virgin Atlantic and British Airways aircraft surrounded by emergency vehicles at Heathrow in an image posted to social media site X. PA
The Virgin Atlantic and British Airways aircraft surrounded by emergency vehicles at Heathrow in an image posted to social media site X. PA
The Virgin Atlantic and British Airways aircraft surrounded by emergency vehicles at Heathrow in an image posted to social media site X. PA
The Virgin Atlantic and British Airways aircraft surrounded by emergency vehicles at Heathrow in an image posted to social media site X. PA

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UK

Passenger planes collide on the ground at Heathrow Airport

No passenger injuries were reported following the incident, which is now under investigation

Gillian Duncan
Gillian Duncan

April 06, 2024

  • English
  • Arabic

A Virgin Atlantic plane under tow at Heathrow Airport near London struck a stationary British Airways aircraft on Saturday.

No passenger injuries were reported following the incident, which damaged an aircraft stabiliser and is now under investigation.

The empty Virgin Boeing 787-9 plane had reportedly just completed a flight and was being towed to another part of the airport.

Video posted on social media shows a Virgin Atlantic plane's wing touching a British Airways aircraft, surrounded by emergency services.

Virgin said it has launched an investigation into the incident.

The aircraft has been taken out of service and engineering teams are performing maintenance checks on it, the airline added.

The British Airways plane is being assessed by engineers, the company said.

It said it has provided an alternative aircraft to "limit the impact on our customers".

A Virgin Atlantic representative said: "We are aware that the wingtip of one of our empty aircraft came into contact with another aircraft while being towed from the stand at London Heathrow Terminal 3.

"The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority.

"We can confirm no customers were on board the Virgin Atlantic aircraft during this time.

The Virgin Atlantic aircraft's wing hit a stabiliser in the tail of the British Airways plane. PA
The Virgin Atlantic aircraft's wing hit a stabiliser in the tail of the British Airways plane. PA

"We've commenced a full and thorough investigation and our engineering teams are performing maintenance checks on the aircraft, which for now has been taken out of service."

It is understood Virgin Atlantic's flying programme has not been disrupted by the incident.

The tow movement was provided by a ground handling company under contract by Virgin Atlantic.

A representative for British Airways said: "One of our aircraft, while stationary at Heathrow earlier today, was involved in a collision with another airline's jet, which was being towed from a stand at the time.

A close up shot of the damage from a handout photo shared on the social media site X. PA
A close up shot of the damage from a handout photo shared on the social media site X. PA

"Our aircraft is being assessed by our engineering teams and we have provided an alternative aircraft to limit the impact on our customers."

A representative for the airport said: "We are working alongside emergency services and our airline partners in response to an incident involving two aircraft on the ground earlier today.

"At present, no passenger injuries have been reported and we do not anticipate there to be any ongoing impact to airport operations."

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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.”

Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

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