A Dubai resident has made the final of an international photography competition with a picture taken from his back garden of the filming of an Emirates advert featuring an A380 plane flying past Burj Khalifa.
Emirates pilot and keen amateur photographer James Ward captured the image from his house in Dubai’s Meydan community.
Mr Ward, from the UK, said he had no idea the social media hit promotion was being filmed when he took the shot. His attention had been drawn by the plane's unusual flight pattern, he added.
The image has since been selected as one of the final 10 pictures in an aviation-themed global competition.
We live underneath the flight path for Dubai and are used to planes flying overhead but I thought there was something different about this plane
James Ward
“I took the picture when I got home from dropping my son off on the school run,” said Mr Ward, 35.
“We live underneath the flight path for Dubai and are used to planes flying overhead but I thought there was something different about this plane because it kept going round and round.
“I pulled out my camera and took a few photos, this one happened to be perfectly timed.”
His image received such a positive reception on Instagram that it caught the attention of Coradine Aviation, the US pilot software firm behind the competition.
“I posted it on Instagram shortly after I took it in October. It blew up and received thousands and thousands of likes,” he said.
“The response has been much bigger than I expected, especially for a picture that was just really just something off-the-cuff and spur-of-the-moment.”
Last week, Emirates airline released a video of stuntwoman Nicole Smith-Ludvik, dressed as a flight attendant, standing on top of Burj Khalifa.
Ms Smith-Ludvik was filmed at the summit of the world’s tallest building holding up signs stating “Wow, I can see Dubai Expo” and “Finally, here come my friends”.
The camera then pans out to reveal an Emirates A380 flying by, decked out in Expo 2020 Dubai livery, as she holds up another sign inviting people to use Emirates to travel to “the world’s greatest show”.
The video has just short of 500,000 likes on Emirates’ Instagram page.
“When Emirates posted their advert, I realised it had obviously been shot when I took this photograph,” said Mr Ward.
“I just happened to have captured the image from my house.
“It’s the coming together of two icons of Dubai. On one hand you have the Burj Khalifa, then you have an A380 plane which is synonymous with Emirates.”
If Mr Ward’s picture is chosen as the winner of the competition, he will receive a 10-year subscription to Coradine Aviation.
Emirates released a behind-the-scenes video on Monday explaining how they made its latest campaign featuring Ms Smith-Ludvik.
The skydiver and stuntwoman has proven beyond doubt she has a head for heights.
She previously stood proudly atop Burj Khalifa for an Emirates video in August celebrating UK-UAE travel restrictions being eased.
Ms Smith-Ludvik is among only a handful of people who have had the privilege of standing at the pinnacle of Burj Khalifa – including Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, and actors Tom Cruise and Will Smith.
WHAT FANS WILL LOVE ABOUT RUSSIA
FANS WILL LOVE
Uber is ridiculously cheap and, as Diego Saez discovered, mush safer. A 45-minute taxi from Pulova airport to Saint Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospect can cost as little as 500 roubles (Dh30).
FANS WILL LOATHE
Uber policy in Russia is that they can start the fare as soon as they arrive at the pick-up point — and oftentimes they start it even before arriving, or worse never arrive yet charge you anyway.
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It’s amazing how active Russians are on social media and your accounts will surge should you post while in the country. Throw in a few Cyrillic hashtags and watch your account numbers rocket.
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With cold soups, bland dumplings and dried fish, Russian cuisine is not to everybody’s tastebuds. Fortunately, there are plenty Georgian restaurants to choose from, which are both excellent and economical.
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The World Cup will take place during St Petersburg's White Nights Festival, which means perpetual daylight in a city that genuinely never sleeps. (Think toddlers walking the streets with their grandmothers at 4am.)
FANS WILL LOATHE
The walk from Krestovsky Ostrov metro station to Saint Petersburg Arena on a rainy day makes you wonder why some of the $1.7 billion was not spent on a weather-protected walkway.
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
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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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Pakistan 482
Australia 30/0 (13 ov)
Australia trail by 452 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the innings
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