Qatari fighter jets came within just 200 metres of a UAE-registered aircraft, a UAE civil aviation authority official said on Tuesday, in a dangerous escalation of the harassment of the UAE.
He said the international community has been called on to stop Qatari interference with UAE civilian aircraft.
Two Qatari air force fighters forced a UAE-registered civilian aircraft flying over international waters to elevate from 32,000 to 35,000 feet on Monday to avoid a collision, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said at a press conference in Abu Dhabi.
The Qatari fighter jets were recorded within 214 vertical metres of the aircraft and with less than 1,000 horizontal metres between them.
“It puts international civil aviation traffic at risk,” said Ismaeil Al Blooshi, the assistant director generation of the authority’s aviation safety affairs sector. “We are now working with our allies to ensure that these foundational international agreements are upheld and we call on the international community to support this effort.”
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Read more:
Qatar 'harassed' UAE military aircraft, general says
UAE submits complaint with UN over Qatar's interception of Emirati planes
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The Airbus 320 was flying on the UL768 route to Europe and was within the Bahraini flight information range. The jets were not communicating with the Bahrain air traffic controller, said Mr Al Blooshi.
The jets approached the Airbus from the north and circled behind it, approaching from below. The distance between the two aircrafts dropped from 14,000 feet to 1,000 feet in less than three minutes, said Mr Al Blooshi.
The incident took place at 3.33pm local time on Monday, 18 nautical miles (33km) from the Qatari coast. According to United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, every state has the right to territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles from its coast. This extends to airspace.
Also on Monday, a UAE-registered helicopter was approached by Qatari aircraft. This incident happened at a lower altitude and further details will be obtained from Bahraini officials at a later time, said a GCAA official.
The authority has already filed a formal complaint to to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regarding the Qatari interception of two civilian Emirati aircraft on January 15.
“This has to stop,” said Mr Al Blooshi. “This is the fourth UAE civilian aircraft where a similar event has happened and what we’ve seen is that every time the envelop is pushed more. The risk to the passengers is pushed higher every time.”
The authority declined to comment on the owner of the airliner or the number of passengers. The Bahrain state news agency reported on Monday that the plane’s tail number matched that of an aircraft flown by the Fujairah ruling family.
“These manoeuvres should not come near civil aircraft," said Mr Al Blooshi.
"There is a code that fighters, state and military aircraft are required to follow when it comes to civilian aircraft, and it’s based on the principals of due regard to the safety of the operation of the aircraft. What we want to see is an immediate cease of acts that endanger or compromise the safety of civilians.”
“It is not just UAE aircrafts that use this airway, it’s an international airway used by air traffic from around the world.”
Qatari fighter jets have approached UAE military aircraft on three separate occasions in recent months.
A Qatari jet neared a UAE F-16 on December 27 last year, according to Brig Gen Helal Al Qubaisi of the Armed Forces. He reported that this was followed by two other incidents involving a UAE Twin Otter aircraft and a C-130 cargo plane, on January 3 and January 12.
The UAE has filed a complaint to the UN Security Council president and the UN General Assembly president.
Qatar has said that the recent allegations were made to cover up UAE military aircraft violations of its airspace on December 21 and January 3, the Associated Press reported. Qatar submitted a complaint with the UN about the alleged December 21 violation. Its ministry spokesperson said Qatar planned legal action against the UAE.
The UAE has denied these allegations.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE cut all ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of supporting extremism and interference in the internal affairs of other states.
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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.”
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