DUBAI // Dubai and Sharjah International airports were closed for more than hour on Saturday night when a drone intruded into airspace.
Airspace around Dubai was closed from 7.25pm to 8.45pm “due to unauthorised drone activity resulting in the diversion of 22 inbound flights”, Dubai Airports said. “Dubai Airports is working closely with stakeholders to return operations to normal to minimise customer inconvenience.
“Safety is our top priority and Dubai Airports reminds all UAV [drone] operators that any and all activities are not permitted unless authorised by regulatory authorities, and are strictly prohibited in restricted areas including within 5 kilometres of any airport or landing area.”
At least eight flights were also affected at Sharjah International because it and Dubai airports share flight paths.
The closure at Sharjah began about 8pm and flights were cleared to take off again at 9pm.
Dubai resident Orla Phillips, returning from Qatar on FlyDubai, said her plane was due to arrive at Dubai International at 8.10pm but was diverted to Dubai World Central.
People on the nearly full flight had to wait while officials made the decision to reroute the flight back to Dubai International or allow passengers to exit at DWC.
“They said it’s for security reasons that we can’t get off but it’s been almost two hours now,” said the 35-year-old, adding that a shuttle bus could have been provided to Dubai International.
As a result of the diversion, other passengers missed their connecting flights. Ms Phillips said that the crew expected to have information over the next 15 to 20 minutes but that all rerouted flights would need to go to Dubai International to refuel.
“I’ve been on flights before that have been diverted and I’ve sat for five hours on a runway in India, which is fine, there is nothing you can do about it.
“But when you’re in your home country and you’re stuck on a plane for over two hours because they won’t let you off, it’s extremely frustrating.”
Ms Phillips said the flight remained on the tarmac for nearly four hours, requiring a team of paramedics to come onboard after a passenger became ill.
It is not the first time a drone has closed Dubai airport, one of the busiest in the world. Last month it was shut down for half an hour because of “unauthorised drone activity”. That closure resulted in delays to 90 flights.
In June, the airport was closed to aircraft for more than an hour after a drone incursion.
Dubai International Airport is one of four drone no-fly zones set up by the General Civil Aviation Authority in April after an incident last year in which a drone caused a 55-minute shutdown estimated to have cost the emirate’s economy Dh3.7 million a minute.
The other no-fly zones are Al Maktoum Airport, Al Minhad airbase and the Palm Jumeirah around Skydive Dubai.
* This article has been amended for clarity
rpennington@thenational.ae
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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.”
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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