• A Handley Page HP42 aircraft at Sharjah Air Station in 1933, just a few months after the first landing. Photo: Dr Sultan Al Qasimi Centre for Gulf Studies - Al Darah
    A Handley Page HP42 aircraft at Sharjah Air Station in 1933, just a few months after the first landing. Photo: Dr Sultan Al Qasimi Centre for Gulf Studies - Al Darah
  • A windsock flying on top of the Sharjah Air Station control tower during the 1930s. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
    A windsock flying on top of the Sharjah Air Station control tower during the 1930s. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
  • Sharjah Air Station buildings in the 1930s. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
    Sharjah Air Station buildings in the 1930s. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
  • Guards at the air station. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
    Guards at the air station. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
  • The route between Britain and India, showing the stop at Sharjah. This image is taken from the Sharjah Air Station: The First Landing 90 Years Ago exhibition at Al Mahatta Museum. Courtesy: Sharjah Museums Authority.
    The route between Britain and India, showing the stop at Sharjah. This image is taken from the Sharjah Air Station: The First Landing 90 Years Ago exhibition at Al Mahatta Museum. Courtesy: Sharjah Museums Authority.
  • Workers refuel aircraft manually at Sharjah Air Station. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
    Workers refuel aircraft manually at Sharjah Air Station. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
  • A technical drawing of the Handley Page HP42, from the Sharjah Air Station: The First Landing 90 Years Ago exhibition.Photo: Sharjah Museums Authority
    A technical drawing of the Handley Page HP42, from the Sharjah Air Station: The First Landing 90 Years Ago exhibition.Photo: Sharjah Museums Authority
  • Manal Ataya, director general of the Sharjah Museums Authority opens the exhibition at Al Mahatta Museum. Photo: Sharjah Museums Authority
    Manal Ataya, director general of the Sharjah Museums Authority opens the exhibition at Al Mahatta Museum. Photo: Sharjah Museums Authority
  • The exhibition examines the significance of the first flight and the development of Sharjah as an air station. Photo: Sharjah Museums Authority
    The exhibition examines the significance of the first flight and the development of Sharjah as an air station. Photo: Sharjah Museums Authority
  • Sharjah Air Station became a base for the RAF until Britain left the Arabian Gulf in 1971. It still stands today as part of Al Mahatta Museum. Chris Whiteoak / The National
    Sharjah Air Station became a base for the RAF until Britain left the Arabian Gulf in 1971. It still stands today as part of Al Mahatta Museum. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The day the first aircraft landed in Sharjah


John Dennehy
  • English
  • Arabic

It was late afternoon in Sharjah and the sun was setting slowly over the Gulf.

It seemed like any other day until a low hum was heard from the east. Then a flash of silver and the roar of four mighty propeller engines as the Imperial Airways plane came swooping in over the desert to land. Sharjah had joined the age of international aviation.

The Handley Page HP42 was the first commercial plane to touch down at Sharjah's new air station on October 5, 1932, as part of the new multiple-stop route between Britain and India that hugged the Arabian Gulf coast. These Imperial Airways routes were established in the early 20th century as a way of maintaining and improving links between Britain and the colonies as aircraft became more reliable and could travel farther.

Sharjah became a stop after Britain switched the route from the Iranian coast to the Gulf after a dispute over landing rights.

It was not the first plane to ever land in the region but was the first scheduled flight at what was effectively modern-day UAE's first airport. Nicknamed “Hanno”, the plane came from from Gwadar in modern-day Pakistan and travelled at about 160kph carrying four passengers and crew. Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah, signed an agreement with Britain to establish the air station and he and his brothers along with a crowd of residents came to see the first plane land there, while the passengers were escorted to tents for the night as a guesthouse was still under construction.

“The tents … were carpeted and furnished and adequate ablution facilities were in evidence,” wrote Sheikh Sultan in his book Sharjah Air Station: Between East and West. “Also available was a variety of good quality food. The passengers all praised the high quality of service received.”

A rest from refuelling aircraft at Sharjah during the 1930s. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
A rest from refuelling aircraft at Sharjah during the 1930s. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority

The flight from India to London including the stop at Sharjah then took about six days with a one-way fare costing about £95 ($106), nearly £5,000 ($5,600) in today’s money, according to Nicholas Stanley-Price, author of Imperial Outpost in the Gulf: The Airfield at Sharjah 1932 to 1952. The airlines carried passengers, mail and officials so it clearly was a rarefied world.

But what was it like to be a passenger? A unique account two years after the first aircraft landed provides a clue. ‘Imperial Journey,’ written by a ‘Mr Bunbury’ and published in the Royal Aero Club Gazette offers a glimpse inside this bygone world of aviation.

“She seats 24 passengers in two compartments, one forward of the wings and one aft. In the middle, there is a lavatory and steward’s kitchen and opposite, the baggage room,” Mr Bunbury wrote of life on board a Handley Page as it flew to Sharjah in 1934.

“A gangway as broad as that of a railway dining car runs down the centre and the seats are arranged just like a Pullman car [1930s era US railway carriage] in pairs with a slung table between.”

There were thought to be eight passengers and they enjoyed a meal and drinks before landing in Sharjah. Mr Bunbury complimented the facilities he found.

“Shajar [Sharjah] is a desolate spot in a desert about a mile from the small town of that name. The fort is a square concrete one with loopholed terrace all around and steel doors to the main gate complete with wireless masts, searchlights and an armed Arab guard with rifles supplied by us and belts filled with cartridges. Passengers are not allowed to go outside the compound,” he wrote.

“Inside the fort are rooms with electric lights and quite comfortable. I had a bath and shave and then took a walk around. The outward mail plane arrived after dark at a quarter to seven and about eight passengers joined us at drinks and dinner. Early bed and I slept well.”

He even found time to pet one of the baby gazelles that then roamed around the airfield.

A baby gazelle roams the air station at Sharjah. Their presence was commented on by passengers. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority
A baby gazelle roams the air station at Sharjah. Their presence was commented on by passengers. Photo: Wing Commander H G L Allsop Collection © John Allsop / Sharjah Museums Authority

"One allowed me to scratch her head and seemed to like it. They are evidently pets, most graceful little animals and I wish I could have brought a baby one back for Gill."

Most of the western-style food and drink served to passengers was imported from India, noted Mr Stanley-Price.

“Even during wartime, supplies were adequate (in contrast to the very limited food supplies available to Sharjah’s people),” he said.

“Raymond O’Shea arriving as the new superintendent in 1944 had for his first lunch: an hors d’oeuvre, soup, fish, chicken with beans and potatoes, a pudding, cheese and biscuits and coffee.”

Hanno, meanwhile, left Sharjah the following morning after the first flight but the significance was clear.

Sharjah’s air station went on to host a cinema, a hotel and became an important Royal Air Force base until Britain left the Gulf in 1971. The airport’s amenities would also encompass a meteorological centre and telegraph and postal services. It also served for a few years as the emirate’s main airport until it was replaced by today’s modern facility. Imperial Airways ultimately would become what we know today as British Airways but its legacy lives on.

The control tower and original Imperial Airways guesthouse are now part of the Al Mahatta Museum, which explores the rich history of aviation in the region, while King Abdul Aziz Street used to be the runway.

An exhibition dedicated to the first flight opened at Al Mahatta Museum on October 3. ‘Sharjah Air Station: The First Landing 90 years ago’ displays rare photographs, the approval agreement and video exploring the history of the flight.

“The exhibition is a great way to further appreciate the history of the first airport in the UAE and Sharjah emirate’s early realisation of the importance of cross-cultural dialogue and mobility by opening the first airport in the region,” said Manal Ataya, director general of Sharjah Museums Authority.

Sharjah Air Station: The First Landing 90 Years Ago runs at Al Mahatta Museum until September 3, 2023

JERSEY INFO

Red Jersey
General Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the leader of the General Classification by time.
Green Jersey
Points Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the fastest sprinter, who has obtained the best positions in each stage and intermediate sprints.
White Jersey
Young Rider Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the best young rider born after January 1, 1995 in the overall classification by time (U25).
Black Jersey
Intermediate Sprint Classification: worn daily, starting from Stage 2, by the rider who has gained the most Intermediate Sprint Points.

The finalists

Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho

Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson

Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)

Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid

Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)

Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

The specs

Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)

Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm

Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

Rainbow

Kesha

(Kemosabe)

World record transfers

1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m

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SPECS

Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR

Engine: 5.7-litre V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 362hp

Torque: 530Nm

Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EDate%20started%3A%20January%202022%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Omar%20Abu%20Innab%2C%20Silvia%20Eldawi%2C%20Walid%20Shihabi%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20PropTech%20%2F%20investment%3Cbr%3EEmployees%3A%2040%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Seed%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Multiple%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

War and the virus
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo 

 Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua

 Based: Dubai, UAE

 Number of employees: 28

 Sector: Financial services

 Investment: $9.5m

 Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. 

 
THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine 

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

Match info

Liverpool 4
Salah (19'), Mane (45 2', 53'), Sturridge (87')

West Ham United 0

Updated: December 12, 2022, 4:50 AM