In 1969, Paul Meyer, a US Air Force mechanic stationed in Britain, took the bizarre and tragic decision to steal a plane.
The aircraft was a four-engine Hercules C-130 transporter, weighing approximately 40 tonnes. He was going it alone, abandoning the usual protocol of having a co-pilot, navigator and engineer. Remarkably, he managed to stay airborne for almost two hours. But somewhere over the English Channel, Meyer crashed. His body was never found.
What on earth could have driven him, totally unqualified, to take to the skies? The answer is simple. He missed his wife.
Meyer was the victim of a universal emotion that many will be feeling during this pandemic: homesickness. Covid-19 has not been kind to families and friends separated by borders, and after a year and a half of varying restrictions, many people, including me, will be hoping that summer 2021 will be one of reunion.
The English Channel, where Paul Meyer's famous journey came to a tragic end. Bloomberg
And with that hope comes a borderline obsession with monitoring global travel restrictions. Today my eye was on news outlets in my native Britain, as the UK government revealed the most recent changes to its "traffic light system". I should have been expecting the anti-climax. The government has now taken Portugal off its "green list" – locations where no isolation is mandated on return – in a major blow to airlines and the tourism industry. It is, however, expanding its "red list", areas from which returnees must undergo a hotel quarantine for 10 days, costing almost $2,500.
Separation is not about distance, but rather about our ability, or inability, to do anything about it
The route I choose to return to the UK from the UAE on leave in August will be relatively boring. In recent days, The National has reported on far more interesting ones. Hundreds of Indian citizens have travelled to Armenia to sit out a two-week quarantine period before they can return to the Emirates, where over 2.5 million other Indians live. Armenians, whose nation includes one of the most widely dispersed diasporas in history and is, therefore, familiar with separation, are now host to a wave of visitors that would not have come if not for the pandemic. Once considered by many of us in the UAE as a weekend getaway, Armenia is now a two-week home for people who, without its hospitality and good prices, would be going nowhere.
And while my route will be confined to Europe, it, too, will be dictated by chance. Italy has opened up a travel corridor with the UAE. Seven EU countries have started using a digital Covid-19 certificate. If I visit friends in France, with some of the strictest controls around, in which EU countries should I wait out the necessary 10 days? I hear Bulgaria is cheap.
.
Suddenly, the simple European holidays people want every summer are turning into continental tours. Am I concerned about what this could mean for my bank balance? Yes. Am I worried about the wisdom or morality of travelling in a pandemic? Not so much – I, a vaccinated traveller who can stomach (or sinus) PCR tests, would only be going to countries that are open to me. And the more that I think about it, am I worried about having to stop over in Italy, Albania, Cyprus or Bulgaria? Most certainly not. In the 17th and 18th century anyone who was anyone would embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, a trip considered central to a privileged young man's, or occasionally a young woman's, education. I ought to consider myself lucky to be reviving the Classical gap year.
But even apart from that, I will be one of the very luckiest people in search of reunion this summer. We have all dealt with some degree of separation in the pandemic. Mine might be significant in geographical terms, but with healthy friends and family, and the benefit of a vaccine. The mental burden is a very light one.
Separation is not about distance, but rather our ability, or inability, to do anything about it. And when rules mandate distance between families and their sick or elderly relatives, sometimes even in the same towns and cities, fate can seem actively cruel.
The story of mechanic Paul Meyer is back in the news because two British divers claim to have found evidence of a government cover-up after the incident, once again raising questions as to what exactly caused the crash that killed him. But when I read it I found something more than just a remarkable moment in history.
As he flew over the English Channel en route to a home he would never see again, Meyer called his wife. "Honey! I got a bird in the sky and I'm coming home," he said. Minutes later, when the gravity of what he had done started to set in, his triumphalism melted away. "Honey, I'll be really honest with you [...] I feel like the biggest dodo around here right now. Over."
I think my tenuous plans are not enough to make me a dodo just yet. And I certainly have no desire to become the next mechanic Icarus. But would I have had the same reaction to Meyer's story that I did yesterday – even spot a few minuscule parallels – if we were living in a time when we could see the people we miss most? Probably not.
Thomas Helm is a staff opinion writer at The National
Tuan Phan of SimplyFI.org lists five signs you have been mis-sold to:
1. Your pension fund has been placed inside an offshore insurance wrapper with a hefty upfront commission.
2. The money has been transferred into a structured note. These products have high upfront, recurring commission and should never be in a pension account.
3. You have also been sold investment funds with an upfront initial charge of around 5 per cent. ETFs, for example, have no upfront charges.
4. The adviser charges a 1 per cent charge for managing your assets. They are being paid for doing nothing. They have already claimed massive amounts in hidden upfront commission.
5. Total annual management cost for your pension account is 2 per cent or more, including platform, underlying fund and advice charges.
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
THURSDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 10am:
Lucrezia Stefanini v Elena Rybakina (6)
Aryna Sabalenka (4) v Polona Hercog
Sofia Kenin (1) v Zhaoxuan Yan
Kristina Mladenovic v Garbine Muguruza (5)
Sorana Cirstea v Karolina Pliskova (3)
Jessica Pegula v Elina Svitolina (2)
Court 1
Starting at 10am:
Sara Sorribes Tormo v Nadia Podoroska
Marketa Vondrousova v Su-Wei Hsieh
Elise Mertens (7) v Alize Cornet
Tamara Zidansek v Jennifer Brady (11)
Heather Watson v Jodie Burrage
Vera Zvonareva v Amandine Hesse
Court 2
Starting at 10am:
Arantxa Rus v Xiyu Wang
Maria Kostyuk v Lucie Hradecka
Karolina Muchova v Danka Kovinic
Cori Gauff v Ulrikke Eikeri
Mona Barthel v Anastasia Gasanova
Court 3
Starting at 10am:
Kateryna Bondarenko v Yafan Wang
Aliaksandra Sasnovich v Anna Bondar
Bianca Turati v Yaroslava Shvedova
The specs: 2017 Dodge Viper SRT
Price, base / as tested Dh460,000
Engine 8.4L V10
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 645hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 813Nm @ 5,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 16.8L / 100km
Draw:
Group A: Egypt, DR Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe
Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi
Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania
Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Namibia
Group E: Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, Angola
Group F: Cameroon, Ghana, Benin, Guinea-Bissau
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023 More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer