Etihad Airways expects its charter flights segment to boost business and help it adapt to market conditions if Covid-19 flare-ups around the world stifle a recovery in demand for scheduled services this year.
With reduced scheduled flights and severe constraints on air cargo capacity globally last year, more customers considered charter jets to transport people and goods – a trend that is likely to continue in 2021, Etihad Airways' executives said.
"The main thing in our mind is to make sure that we're well-positioned to adapt to whatever the market conditions are and that whilst demand for scheduled service remains lower than historical levels, we expect to see very robust demand for chartered and special flights and we will be well positioned to take advantage of that," Alex Featherstone, vice president of network planning and alliances at Etihad Airways, told The National. "We're very keen to make sure this kind of flying builds strongly and that it is a significant contributor to our bottom-line."
However, this depends on the extent of recovery in scheduled flights in 2021 and beyond, which may "keep a lid" on demand for private charters, he said.
In January, private flights globally made up 18 per cent of total air traffic and were down by only 9 per cent compared to the same month last year, according to consulting company WingX Advance. The drop is less steep compared with scheduled airlines' operations, where passenger traffic fell 50 per cent for the first month of the year as the pandemic battered air travel demand.
The UAE, home of Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, has seen 75 per cent increase in business jet movements in January. Large jets flew 38 per cent of all activity, with the Challenger 600 jet movements on par with January last year, the Global Express aircraft flying 30 per cent less and the Embraer Legacy 50 per cent more active than last year, WingX said in a February 3 report.
Etihad's charter unit offers leisure and business travellers options for passenger, cargo-only and combined freight and passenger flights. These are operated with jets ranging from Airbus A320 narrowbodies to Boeing 777s for long-haul journeys.
"We saw in 2020 that with limited scheduled service, there were customers looking for different options that translated into chartered customised flights, and we think that will be the case in 2021 as well," Mr Featherstone said.
Etihad Airways received about 100 inquiries for charter services in the last month through a dedicated webpage, which it set up in December. Many of these firmed up into flight operations or contracts for future flights, he said, declining to share specific figures.
Inquiries came from private individuals and groups seeking to charter flights to leisure destinations.
"We've flown multiple missions from the UAE to the Maldives," Mr Featherstone said. "We also got inquiries from sporting teams and from corporates looking to move a certain number of people."
While prices depend on customer requirements and additional requests, a roundtrip from the UAE to Maldives on an A320 charter flight could cost approximately $90,000 to $100,000, Etihad said.
Asked how Etihad positions itself in the market with other established and specialised private jet operators, Mr Featherstone said the airline is focused on scheduled flights but is seeking to boost chartered services to maximise its fleet utilisation.
"The key difference for us is that this is not our core business but it is an important and developing add-on on to our core business," Mr Featherstone said. "Because our core business is scheduled flying, we have a number of different aircraft types available to deploy which may be different from some of the aircraft types that these private jet operators have at their disposal."
The charter services will also help the airline re-deploy some of the jets that were idled by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Because we don't have these aircraft just sitting there for charter operations, we have the luxury of having availability from our scheduled passenger fleet so we can use aircraft that are currently not operating or take gaps in the schedule and allocate them out, which in some cases means we can be more cost effective than traditional operators."
On the cargo side, reduced freighter capacity and congestion in shipping lanes are driving demand for air cargo services, including on charter flights, Martin Drew, senior vice president of sales and cargo at Etihad Aviation Group, said.
"It's a bit of a perfect storm leading to huge constraints in terms of capacity that means the only option is to start chartering aircraft because there is not enough scheduled capacity," Mr Drew said.
Global private jet travel thrived during the Covid-19 pandemic as it allowed well-heeled travellers to avoid commercial flights and minimised the risk of contact in crowded airports.
However, the stricter travel regulations imposed by governments in response to the new virus mutations have dented demand for private jet travel in January, according to WingX Advance.
"Evidently demand is being suppressed by travel restrictions, with the relatively unfettered US market seeing most resilient demand, and Florida continuing to see record activity," the report said. "The last few months’ busy pre-owned business jet transactions market suggests that once lockdowns are lifted more widely, there could be pent-up demand from lots of new aircraft owners."
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Honeymoonish
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Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
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Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
Gully Boy
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars
How it works
A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank
Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night
The charge is stored inside a battery
The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode
A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes
This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode
When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again
The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge
No limit on how many times you can charge
The Intruder
Director: Deon Taylor
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good
One star
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
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
Naga
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