Four-legged friends making the most of luxury jets

As millions of Americans cram into coach for holiday travel, some four-legged passengers will fly on luxury private jets.

A rebound in US business-aircraft trips this year means more dogs and cats are taking wing too. In addition to the perks of on-demand flights and plenty of legroom, being able to bring furry companions onboard can justify the price of a ticket, which doesn’t come cheap.

A flight on Jet Edge International costs $67,000 on average, and the company also charges a $2,000 refundable pet deposit in case of accidents on board. The average net worth of the company’s customers is $1 billion, according to chief executive Bill Papariella.

Letting animals tag along is “one of the main reasons why people will fly private,” Mr Papariella said in an interview. “They don’t want to go to Aspen or their holiday or to their second home without their pets being on board.”

For those with means, a charter flight or a jet with fractional ownership is an attractive alternative to airlines’ limits on carry-on kennels or the risks of sending a crated pet in the hold. It’s a niche market that can include handmade dog snacks - a $1,000 Kobe beef snack or rice pilaf with salmon - special attendants and even solo flights without an animal’s owner.

It was worth it for Dallas real estate investor Alan Box, whose purchase of a one-fourth interest in a Learjet via leasing company Flexjet a decade ago was driven chiefly by a desire to ensure that family members could enjoy getaways to their ranch in Crowheart, Wyoming, with canines in tow.

Mr Box, 63, was living in Fairfax County, Virginia, at the time as CEO of radio-station chain EZ Communications. Commercial flight connections through Denver and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, would have been impossible with Ribsy and Cody, his full-grown chocolate and black Labrador Retrievers.

“We just thought they were too big,” said Mr Box, who has since sold the jet share because he didn’t replace his pets when they died. “We didn’t feel like it was safe or really worth the trouble,” to fly commercial, he said.

NetJets, the luxury-jet unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, probably flew pets on about 9 per cent of last year’s flights, according to figures from spokeswoman Christine Herbert and the website of the Columbus, Ohio-based company. Boston-based Magellan Jets estimates that it carries animals on a quarter of its trips, while at Jet Edge the share is about half.

As with two-legged passengers, the holidays tend to be the busiest time for animals as well. The post-Thanksgiving Sunday is “our highest-volume day of the year,” Ms Herbert said.

While private-jet operations still aren’t back at pre-recession levels, flights are up in 2014 as an improving US economy and surging corporate profits buoy business and personal travel. This year is poised to be the busiest for such trips since 2008, based on US Federal Aviation Administration data through September.

A perception of safety is one of the reasons some people opt to upgrade their pets. Fifteen animals died on US airline flights this year through August, down from 18 in the same period in 2013, according to US Transportation Department data. And travel rules on commercial flights are poised to tighten this week, when American Airlines Group starts requiring that pets on connecting flights be routed through one of five US cities.

Airlines’ restrictions ensure that few travellers ever see a dog or cat on board.

American, for example, limits carry-on pets to a maximum of seven containers per flight, excluding service animals. Size limits on the kennels - 19 inches long by 13 inches wide by 9 inches high - rule out larger breeds. On private planes, pets can roam free for the duration of the flight as there are no industry-wide safety rules for non-human passengers.

Usually only dogs and cats are allowed on commercial flights, which means owners of barnyard animal-companions must make other arrangements. Emotional-support animals are allowed, but only if they are not disorderly. A woman and her pet pig were escorted off a US Airways flight out of Connecticut last week after the animal befouled the plane and was running in the aisle, according to reports from the Hartford Courant and USA Today.

“I have a client in Dubai who flies me down there to fly with him and his goat a few times a year,” said Carol Martin, the founder of Carmel, California-based Sit ‘n Stay Global, which supplies pet-friendly flight attendants and “pawmenity” kits that include custom snacks.

The goat owner likes to have fresh milk and has a pen at the back of his private plane for that purpose, said Ms Martin.

While Magellan passengers have brought along exotic birds, gerbils and hamsters, the typical private-jet-flying animal is a dog joining its owners on a family vacation, chief executive Joshua Hebert said in an interview. Jet Edge has one celebrity athlete client who likes to have his German shepherd on all of his trips, domestic and international, Mr Papariella said.

The rarest transports are for animals travelling without an owner, perhaps the result of a couple splitting up while retaining joint custody of a pet.

“They fly the pet back and forth and they want a nanny on board,” Ms Martin said. One such former couple pays about $50,000 per trip to fly their dog from Los Angeles to New York every other month.

“A couple times a year, we get the passenger manifest and I realise, ‘Oh my God, all there is is a dog on this plane,’” Jet Edge’s Mr Papariella said.

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Keane on …

Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”

Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”

Afghanistan squad

Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

THE SIXTH SENSE

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rating: 5/5

Essentials
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Windhoek, with a combination of Emirates and Air Namibia, cost from US$790 (Dh2,902) via Johannesburg.
The trip
A 10-day self-drive in Namibia staying at a combination of the safari camps mentioned – Okonjima AfriCat, Little Kulala, Desert Rhino/Damaraland, Ongava – costs from $7,000 (Dh25,711) per person, including car hire (Toyota 4x4 or similar), but excluding international flights, with The Luxury Safari Company.
When to go
The cooler winter months, from June to September, are best, especially for game viewing.

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

Mane points for safe home colouring

Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour

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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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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