Open skies june 2018

THE LIGHTS OF ROME

The amazing story of when the UAE reached the World Cup finals

DUBAI DESIGN DISTRICT

Perhaps the coolest new neighbourhood in the city

TOM HARDY The British actor on how to spend an unconventional weekend in London

THE QE2

STILL MAKING HISTORY Now set for a new life in Dubai

The All-New Hyundai KONA.

Discover more at worldwide.hyundai.com

FLANNEL

EDITOR-INCHIEF

MANAGING PARTNER & GROUP EDITOR

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

OBAID HUMAID AL TAYER

IAN FAIRSERVICE

GINA JOHNSON GINA@MOTIVATE.AE

GROUP EDITOR

SENIOR EDITOR

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR

DESIGNER

MARK EVANS MARKE@MOTIVATE.AE

ANDREW NAGY ANDREW.NAGY@MOTIVATE.AE

OLGA PETROFF OLGA.PETROFF@MOTIVATE.AE

RALPH MANCAO RALPH@MOTIVATE.AE

DIGITAL ANIMATOR

SUB EDITOR

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

SURAJIT DUTTA SURAJIT@MOTIVATE.AE

SALIL KUMAR SALIL@MOTIVATE.AE

LONDRESA FLORES LONDRESA@MOTIVATE.AE

AARTI SAUNDALKAR AARTI@MOTIVATE.AE

CONTRIBUTORS IAIN AKERMAN, EMMA COILER, LAURA COWELL, SARAH FREEMAN, S. HOTTINGER-BEHMER, DOM JOLY, MARINA KAY, ALI KHALED, VINCENT LONG, NEIL SQUIRES COVER: RALPH MANCAO AND THE QE2

GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION MANAGER

CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER

GROUP SALES MANAGER

SUNIL KUMAR SUNIL@MOTIVATE.AE

R MURALI KRISHNAN MURALIK@MOTIVATE.AE

ANTHONY MILNE ANTHONY@MOTIVATE.AE

MICHAEL UNDERDOWN MICHAEL@MOTIVATE.AE

ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER

SENIOR SALES MANAGER

SENIOR SALES MANAGER

BINU PURANDARAN BINU@MOTIVATE.AE

MURALI NARAYANAN MURALI@MOTIVATE.AE

JAMIE O’LOANE JAMIE.OLOANE@MOTIVATE.AE

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS FOR EMIRATES

EDITOR

ARABIC EDITOR

DEPUTY EDITOR

MANNA TALIB

HATEM OMAR

CATHERINE FREEMAN

Emirates takes care to ensure that all facts published herein are correct. In the event of any inaccuracy please contact the editor. Any opinion expressed is the honest belief of the author based on all available facts. Comments and facts should not be relied upon by the reader in taking commercial, legal, financial or other decisions.

Articles are by their nature general and specialist advice should always be consulted before any actions are taken.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND Okeeffe Media; Tel +61 412 080 600, licia@okm.com.au CHINA Newbase, Tel +86 21 6141 3871, tonia.au@thenewbase.com CYPRUS Enigma Advertising, Tel +357 26 811062, info@enigmaadvertising.com HONG KONG/MALAYSIA/THAILAND Sonney Media Networks; Tel +852 2151 2351, hemant@sonneymedia. com INDIA Media Star; Tel +91 22 4220 2103, ravi@mediastar.co.in JAPAN Tandem Inc.; Tel + 81 3 3541 4166, all@tandem-inc.com NETHERLANDS giO media; Tel +31 (0)6 22238420, giovanni@giO-media.nl BENELUX, SWITZERLAND, FRANCE/ITALY & SPAIN IMM International; Tel +331 40 1300 30, n.devos@imm-international.com TURKEY Media Ltd.; Tel +90 212 275 51 52, mediamarketingtr@medialtd.com.tr UK Spafax Inflight Media; Tel +44 207 906 2001, nhopkins@spafax.com USA World Media Inc; Tel: +1 212 244 5610, natalyameytin@worldmediaonline.com

Media One Tower, Dubai Media City PO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE Telephone: (+971 4) 427 3000 Fax: (+971 4) 428 2261 Email: emirates@motivate.ae 6 / OPEN SKIES

134,102 copies July – December 2017

Printed by Emirates Printing Press, Dubai, UAE

Programmes offered are outside Dubai and KHDA bears no responsibility for the same.

CONTENTS

INTRO

14

16

EXPERIENCE

STAY

24

TRAVEL ESSENTIALS

26

DISPATCH

28

EXPO 2020

30

36

NEIGHBOURHOOD

THE YEAR OF ZAYED

40

LUNCH WITH

45

DOM JOLY

FEATURES

56

48

62

THE LIGHTS OF ROME

STILL MAKING HISTORY

HOW TO EAT LIKE AN ITALIAN

BRIEFING

70

NEWS

72

INSIDE EMIRATES

74

DESTINATION

76

SMART GATE, VISA AND COMFORT

82

ROUTE MAP

88

THE FLEET

90

CELEBRITY DIRECTIONS OPEN SKIES / 9

EDITOR’S NOTE

ON THE COVER

STILL MAKING HISTORY This month’s cover celebrates the QE2 and its new home in Dubai, with an art deco style that highlights its role in a golden age of travel.

If there’s one thing that Dubai does well, it’s iconic structures. The world’s tallest building? Check. The very first seven-star hotel? Absolutely. A 150-metre tall golden frame? Goes without saying.

But while these superstructures represent the drive and foresight of present day Dubai, the city’s latest attraction is more of a legend in residence.

The QE2 was an icon before the UAE had even been officially formed, and from its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in May 1969, it went on to become the pride of the Cunard fleet.

After a rich history at sea, visitors to Dubai can now enjoy this legendary liner in all her refurbished glory as a luxury floating hotel. Head to page 48 to see that, although the QE2’s anchor might well be down for good, she’s still making history.

June is also World Cup month, and as we prepare to enjoy the tournament out of Moscow, we felt it a good time to reflect on icons of a different type. The UAE football team of 1990 was so unfancied that, even now, it’s hard to believe that their squad of part-time footballers made it all the way to the World Cup finals in Italy. Turn to page 56 for a tale told by the man who helped immortalise their achievement in the documentary film, Anwar Roma. It’s the type of amazing story that only sport can really provide. The stuff of legends, you might say.

SOCIAL MEDIA facebook.com/ openskiesmag

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ANDREW NAGY SENIOR EDITOR OPEN SKIES / 11

Sharjah Aquarium Explore the astonishing hidden world of the deep sea life Experience up-close encounters with around 100 marine species native to the region’s waters. Take an underwater journey and discover everything from large ocean creatures to the small aquatic life that can be found in the UAE’s rock pools, coral reefs, lagoons and mangroves.

Intro

NEIGHBOURHOOD

EXPERIENCE • STAY

UAE

DUBAI DESIGN DISTRICT Rapidly turning into a hub for the city’s creatives, Dubai Design District is worth a place on your Dubai itinerary.

DUBAI, UAE | DUBAIDESIGNDISTRICT.COM

Turn over to plan your month

•

INTRO DISPATCH • EXPO 2020 • NEIGHBOURHOOD

THE PLAN Events to aim for this month

JUNE 14-JULY 15

MOHAMED SALAH

As the 2018 World Cup kicks off in Russia, we speak to the man set to star centre stage INTERVIEW: Andrew Nagy

It’s great to win individual awards They’re always a compliment – and I credit my teammates – but it’s the trophies that you win as a team that really matter.

I didn’t think the accent would be so hard to understand But I love Liverpool. It’s very proud and has lots of character and history. There’s always so much passion in the stadium.

I’ve been eating at this place a lot since I arrived at Liverpool It’s called Bakchich. I’ve got to know the owners and they’re great people. My favourite dish is hummus falafel – you have to try it.

The World Cup is always an amazing spectacle Do you remember what Ronaldo was like in 2002? He was just scoring for fun. It was a joy to watch him and the Brazilian team that won it – they were just beautiful.

I had lots of favourite players When I was a kid growing up I would play football in the streets and pretend to be Zidane, Totti and Ronaldo from that great Brazil side.

14 / OPEN SKIES

What was I thinking about when I took the penalty for Egypt?

[Salah’s 94th minute penalty against Congo meant they’d qualified for the World Cup] All I was thinking about was scoring and winning the game – at that time nothing else mattered. Once the game was over I realised what it meant to the people of Egypt, of course.

Success at the World Cup is all about focus As with any World Cup group, the big thing is to make sure you progress out of it. Once you have done that you can really start to dream of what might be.

What would I like to be remembered for?

I’d like to be successful on the pitch and to win trophies, but it’s also important for me to act in the right way. When you know so many people are watching, you want to be seen as a man with integrity.

RUSSIA-WIDE | FIFA.COM

Catch the action live from the World Cup this month on the Sport 24 channels on ice. Most of Emirates’ Boeing 777s and select A380s are equipped with live TV.

EXPERIENCE

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION… UNTIL JUNE 14

IFTAR AT DUBAI OPERA

Enjoy iftar at one of Dubai’s most iconic buildings: Dubai Opera House. Break the fast courtesy of celebrity chef Sean Connolly with a feast including classic Arabic dishes, live cooking stations, sweets and juices.

Be sure to visit the Ramadan market in the foyer, too, for that perfect seasonal gift.

DUBAI, UAE | DUBAIOPERA.COM

UNTIL JUNE 24

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK

While you can catch free public performances of Shakespeare in numerous cities around the world, the idea originated in New York City, with the plan of making the Bard’s work accessible to all. Showing at Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, you can catch Othello until June 24.

NEW YORK CITY, US | PUBLICTHEATER.ORG

JUNE 1-17

REYKJAVIK ARTS FESTIVAL This eclectic biennial festival has been doing great things since 1970. Presenting to the widest possible audience in major cultural venues and unconventional spaces, perhaps this year’s highlight is a rare live appearance from Bill Murray, who will sing and recite poetry.

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND | LISTAHATID.IS/EN

JUNE 11-17

THE US OPEN

The masses descend on Suffolk County and to the beautiful Shinnecock Hills Golf Club this month for the 118th US Open.

The fifth time it has held the event, can Brooks Koepka retain his title, or will one of Europe’s finest prevent the US from making it four wins in a row?

SUFFOLK COUNTY, US | USOPEN.COM OPEN SKIES / 15

STAY

MALDIVES

MARINE LIFE AND THE MALDIVES Opened in 2016, Milaidhoo Island has quickly earned a reputation as the perfect spot to watch marine life thrive in the Maldives WORDS: Clair Jones

5.2669° N

73.1287° E

MILAIDHOO ISLAND

It might sound terribly unfair, but for a Maldivian resort to rise above the competition in 2018, it needs more than just a beautiful stretch of beach, traditional water villas and the opportunity for some tranquil, sun-drenched moments.

While those attributes now seemingly come as standard, a resort needs a USP to help elevate it above its rivals, and it’s an idea that the boutique resort of Milaidhoo Island has locked down in the most fantastic of 16 / OPEN SKIES

ways. The summer months of June to November here mean only one thing: manta ray season.

With the stunning UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Hanifaru Bay just a 12-minute speedboat journey away, this is the world’s largest manta ray feeding station and is also famous as a nursery for grey sharks and stingrays. If that’s not enough, it’s also one of the very few places in the world where whale sharks congregate to mate.

While you can go out and scuba dive with the manta

Emirates offers three flights daily to Male with the Boeing 777-300ER.

rays, you can also spend some time shadowing marine biologists, which is a great way to see the region and its natural habitat in all its glory.

If you’d rather stay on dry land, however, there’s plenty to keep you occupied, whether that’s enjoying a sunrise yoga session, a trip to the spa, or simply a lazy day in. And when you tire of your beautiful, locally designed, private villa, then three world-class restaurants are just a short, barefoot stroll away.

MILAIDHOO.COM

STAY

AUSTRALIA

THE HIPSTER HANGOUT

A heritage-listed hotel in Sydney, Ovolo Woolloomooloo could well be the coolest place to stay in the city WORDS: Marina Kay

151.2093° E

SYDNEY

33.8688° S

Fusing heritage with modern luxury, Ovolo Woolloomooloo is housed in the world’s longest timber-piled wharf. Once a staging point for troop deployment, the fivestorey Cowper Wharf structure has been well preserved and deftly transformed into a charming boutique hotel.

Exposed beams honour its industrial past while stylish furnishings nod to the now.

Guest rooms are tech equipped (plenty of charging points; Amazon Alexas) and interiors pop with art, an extension of the lobby’s aesthetic.

It’s easy to get work done here thanks to the myriad meeting nooks and an enveloping 1980s soundtrack – curated by the hotel’s CEO, whose flair for mixing the best of David Bowie, Madonna and the Eurythmics frankly makes it hard to leave.

Most recently, the hotel’s Alibi restaurant was revamped with a new menu thanks to the prowess of American plantbased chef Matthew Kenney, who is generating buzz for his delicious renditions of classics such as Margherita pizza (made with cashew mozzarella) and kelp noodle cacio e pepe.

Fact: they taste better than the traditional thing.

OVOLOHOTELS.COM 18 / OPEN SKIES

SEE A SHOW AT THE OLD FITZ

No visit to Woolloomooloo would be complete without a visit to Australia’s only pub theatre. Located just an eight-minute walk away from the hotel, The Old Fitz Theatre has more than 100 years of history and regularly shows the best of classic and contemporary works.

Emirates operates three non-stop daily A380 services from Dubai to Sydney, and a fourth daily service via Bangkok.

BOOK YOUR OFFICE NOW

DUBAI’S FIRST SMART CITY AT DUBAI SILICON OASIS

• Spaces available from 50sqm to 10,000sqm • Hotel, auditorium and conference facilities for 320 people • 2,500 parking slots • Top brands, retail and shops • Pleasant and comfortable apartments • All free zone benefits and advantages apply.

CONTACT DUBAI SILICON OASIS: T: 04 501 55 55 | E: inquiries@dso.ae W: www.dsoa.ae

OMAN

THE ULTIMATE MOUNTAIN RETREAT Nestled beautifully in Oman’s Al Hajar Mountains, Al Jabal Al Akhdar is an otherworldly resort that’s perfect for a summer escape WORDS: Andrew Nagy

55.9754° E

OMAN

21.4735° N

Perched 2,000 metres above sea level on the edge of a rugged Omani ravine lies Al Jabal Al Akhdar, perhaps the ultimate getaway resort in the Middle East.

Built out of local stone and wood, the 82 canyon-view rooms and 33 private-pool villas offer a natural extension of their surroundings, with stylishly understated furniture made by local craftsmen, and gardens with indigenous flowers and herbs. This resort is all about location, with the surrounding Al Hajar Mountains offering a jagged, scorched earth accompaniment to the jawdropping views of the canyon.

Unsurprisingly, the natural beauty is central to life at this Anantara resort, and through a combination of sunset yoga, romantic dining options, mountain biking, star-gazing and walks to nearby ancient 20 / OPEN SKIES

Omani villages, you can tackle the mountain from all angles.

If that all sounds a little energetic, take a photography or painting class to help you capture the landscape without having to walk it.

Once you’re able to drag yourself away from the view, you’ll find a comprehensive spa menu – at what is quite probably the world’s highest luxury spa – where you can try the Rose Rescue Ritual treatment using the locally found Damask rose (come between April and May to see them in bloom and all around the resort).

Close your day with a visit to one of Al Jabal Al Akhdar’s five restaurants (three are open for dinner) where we heartily recommend you try the fine dining Middle Eastern menu at Al Qalaa. But don’t pile your plate too high, in the morning, breakfast overlooking the canyon beckons.

ANANTARA.COM

HOW TO TACKLE THE MOUNTAIN

The undoubted star attraction here is the Jabal Activity Wall where you can enjoy the Al Hajar Mountains from the 20-metre-long Via Ferrata route. Climb up and then abseil down the sheer drops for the best views for miles.

Emirates flies three times daily to Muscat with the Boeing 777.

STAY

OPEN SKIES / 21

STAY

LONDON

AN ARTFUL EXPERIENCE IN SOHO A boutique offering in the heart of the city, Soho Hotel turns any London stay into an experience to remember WORDS: Ali Khaled

0.1278° W

LONDON

51.5074° N

Some hotels are merely a place to rest your head after a long day outdoors.

Others are meant to be experienced. Soho Hotel is very much in the latter category.

Quietly tucked away from the West End hustle and bustle in Richmond Mews, it’s one 22 / OPEN SKIES

of London’s most stylish and popular boutique establishments.

Designed by owner Kit Kemp, it’s part of Firmdale Hotels, which also include Charlotte Street Hotel, Covent Garden Hotel and, their signature, Ham Yard.

One thing Soho Hotel guarantees is space. The other is the eclectic décor. Its 96 rooms

Starting June 8 Emirates will add a non-stop daily service to London Stansted Airport to its comprehensive London service, which includes six daily services to London Heathrow and three flights a day to London Gatwick.

eschew the minimalism of many competitors for a more artistic, colourful and quintessentially English style. A 10-foot sculpture of a cat by Colombian artist Fernando Botero greets you as you enter the lobby, setting the scene for what you can expect during your stay, while other works of art are dotted throughout the hotel.

It’s not just art either; it’s the deft little touches that make for a memorable experience.

Our suite included a turntable and accompanying collection of classic vinyl records by the Beatles, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Sinatra, adding a shade of “Swinging Sixties” London to the living areas.

At Refuel Bar and Restaurant you can enjoy a selection of starters and tapas dishes, as well as a varied menu of main courses, while the bar is a popular post work and weekend destination.

Breakfast is available on room service at all hours of the day.

Stepping out, Soho’s many bars and restaurants are literally metres away, while the theatre district is only a few minutes walk. However, given what the Soho Hotel has to offer, many guests will no doubt be more than happy spending a good few hours indoors as well.

Now letting in Nairobi

When a building is iconic, it forever becomes representative of the soul of the city.

One Africa place is 21 floors of naturally lit artistic expression in one of the most premium locations in Nairobi. A home for the business of the future.

For enquiries contact: Anthony Havelock

Anthony.Havelock@ke.knightfrank.com

+254 727 099 364

ESSENTIALS

TRAVEL ESSENTIALS The best adventures deserve to be captured for posterity, so be sure to travel with the right kit

THREE TO TRY

Locations worth filming

HIGH QUALITY Capture everything in HD video and 10MP photo performance.

VOICE CONTROL Tell your camera to start and stop recording, turn off and more.

1

The Galápagos Islands

This archipelago of volcanic islands in Ecuador is known as the foremost destination for wildlife observation and will deliver some amazing footage.

SMOOTH SHOOTING It features video stabilisation to help smooth out the shakes from your footage.

SMARTPHONE COMPATIBLE Simply offload your images and videos to the app on your phone, then share liberally.

FEATURING GoPro Hero, US$232 GOPRO.COM

Download The Emirates App – available for iPhone, iPad and Android. Your personal journey planner makes it easy to view and arrange your trips when you’re on the go. Designed to complement the iPhone app, there’s also an Emirates App for Apple Watch.

24 / OPEN SKIES

THE CAMERA THE ADVENTURE It’s one of the great philosophical questions of our time, and one that has more resonance with each passing year: ‘Seriously, have you even been on holiday if you don’t share the footage online?’

With travellers increasingly shunning hedonistic options in favour of more experiential trips, you need to make sure you have the right kit for the task at hand. Something durable enough to survive climbing a rocky outcrop, small enough to stick in your pocket, and waterproof enough to still work after you’ve fallen into a lake.

This entry-level GoPro Hero camera fits the bill for all of the above and more. It has an easy to use two-inch touch display and is waterproof to 30-feet. Simply shoot your footage and then offload it all to the GoPro app and share. All you need now is to head somewhere video-worthy.

2

Tokyo

A fascinating city that’s perfect for capturing life at street-level.

Start at Shibuya Crossing, then just point and shoot for some weird and wonderful scenes.

3

Dubai

While the city has its fair share of iconic buildings to shoot, activity footage is always great, so try XDubai Skatepark just off Kite Beach.

PHILIPPINES

SHARK TOWN In 2013, Super Typhoon Yolanda tore through the island of Malapascua, leaving it devastated.

Fast-forward five years and it’s thriving again… all thanks to the resident thresher sharks WORDS: Laura Cowell

11.3358° N

124.1156° E

MALAPASCUA

Here’s how a normal Friday morning goes on Malapascua, a carefree speck of glowing white sand in the Visayan Sea. Coconuts are sliced open and sipped by tanned travellers on the beach, music drifts out from oceanfront cafes, and exhilarated divers return from dawn descents after watching the resident thresher sharks that have turned this tiny Philippine island into a diving haven.

Malapascua is the only place in the world that offers daily sightings of these sharks, renowned for their long tails, which they use to stun their prey.

Rewind nearly five years, however, and November 8, 2013, was anything but a normal Friday. On that morning, not a boat was to be seen on the beaches.

Every tourist had departed. One of the strongest cyclones the world had ever seen was roaring towards this infinitesimal piece of paradise that measures just 2.5km x 1km.

While those who remained – locals, hoteliers and dive masters 26 / OPEN SKIES

– sheltered in some of the island’s sturdiest concrete structures, Joseph Dean was standing on the balcony of his two-storey home filming as Super Typhoon Yolanda roared in.

“I was watching all sorts of stuff fly by,” says Dean, the British manager of the Thresher Shark Divers school, who has lived on the island in Cebu province for nearly a decade.

“Palm trees are designed to bend in the wind. In Yolanda, they broke.

Everything was devastated.

All the hotels lost their roofs. Everywhere was flooded.”

The storm struck Malapascua at 9.30am. “If it had been earlier, I’m sure people would have died,” says Dean. As it was, none of the 6,300 lives claimed by the storm in the Philippines were from the island. Walking around Malapascua today, little lingers of the destruction wreaked by the megastorm, which had one minute of sustained wind speeds of up to 318kph, according to the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Rissa Arriesgado, a divemaster who was born on the island,

explains that Malapascua owes its survival to its sharks. What Malapascua had, the international diving community determined in the aftermath of Yolanda, was simply too rare to see perish.

Donations poured in from around the world. “A lot of the money we received came from former divers, some of whom I had guided on dives, and became friends with after they had left the island,” Arriesgado says. The repair work took place not only above ground, but below the water, too. Eighteen days after Yolanda, the divemasters made their first underwater assessment. The sharks were still there, but they were skittish.

Their environment, however, had been destroyed: the coral was decimated and sand had been blasted from the reefs down as far as 30 metres. It was a race against

DISPATCH

good sign it might breach from irritation,” says Dean. “It’ll make a beeline for the surface at a great rate. You’ll hear everybody scream underwater when they do that.

One of them broke one of the outriggers on our boat once.”

“Palm trees are designed to bend in the wind. In Yolanda, they broke. Everything was devastated. All the hotels lost their roofs”

time, Dean says, to rebuild the underwater environment to ensure the sharks didn’t go elsewhere.

Their efforts paid off. Within days, the local wrasse fish the sharks depend on returned.

The tourists weren’t far behind.

Within six months, the island was back on its feet.

Just a few decades earlier, Malapascua might not have been so lucky. It wasn’t until 20 years ago that local seamen first spotted threshers breaching the waves like dolphins, about 40 minutes offshore. Divers subsequently discovered that these rare sharks were using a sunken island called Monad Shoal as a cleaning station – the wrasses living on the rocky island eat parasites from the sharks’ bodies. That finding started a tourism boom on Malapascua that even a mega

ISLAND PARADISE Malapascua is the only place in the world that offers daily sightings of thresher sharks

typhoon hasn’t been able to quash.

“When I first came to Malapascua, there were about five dive centres,” says Dean. Today, there are more than 20. “People are literally flying for 12 hours just to come and do a day of diving with the sharks at 5am in the morning.” The threshers, for reasons scientists still don’t understand, only visit Monad Shoal at dawn.

This is not a beginner’s dive.

Monad Shoal is 27 metres below the surface, a depth that exceeds the basic Open Water PADI licence.

And there is no guarantee the sharks will turn up, although Swedish dive instructor Joel Boethius says a no-show only happens about “three times a year”.

There are no cages here.

Thresher sharks are not known to be dangerous, although they can occasionally “jerk”. “That’s a

At 27 metres down, the ocean is a lonely place. While the shallows around Malapascua are famed for their coral gardens and lively micro life – think shoals of clown fish, pygmy seahorses and frogfish – at this depth there is nothing but small wrasses and scuba divers playing musical statues.

When, eventually, the moment comes, it’s a real thrill as you finally catch a glimpse of a thresher shark, snaking through the misty blue with its blade-like tail seeming even longer, and more pointed, than you had imagined.

Occasionally you’ll catch sight of just one, but it has been said that groups of up to 22 sharks have been seen at Monad Shoal.

Back on shore, it might only be 10am but dive etiquette unofficially states that you must raise a toast to help celebrate your underwater exploits.

It’s only when you’re lounging on the beach, later, that you realise you should have toasted the divers who have rebuilt Malapascua over the past five years. It’s because of their hard work and dedication that we can hopefully continue to visit these sophisticated sharks for many years to come.

Emirates serves three destinations in the Philippines – Manila, Clark and Cebu.

OPEN SKIES / 27

EXPO

UAE

HOW EXPO 2020 IS BOOSTING GLOBAL INNOVATION Dozens of inspiring projects have received grants in the latest cycle of Expo Live’s Innovation Impact Grant Programme WORDS: Craig Durie

55.2708° E

DUBAI

25.2048° N

Expo 2020 Dubai believes that innovation can come from anywhere to everyone and to prove it, the organisers of the next World Expo have found some seriously impressive projects that are impacting society or the planet – or both.

Dozens of innovations are now receiving support from Expo 2020’s US$100m innovation and partnership programme, Expo Live. Among its new Global Innovators is an inspiring Ghanaian who is empowering other women by teaching them how to grow a local wild grain on abandoned land.

An Argentinian mobile app that gives a voice to the speech impaired by predicting what they want to say and saying it for them has also been selected, alongside a solar-powered refrigerator that allows life-saving vaccines to reach remote populations without being damaged.

In total, 26 projects from 22 countries were selected in

For more, check out the Expo 2020 podcast on ice channel 1901.

28 / OPEN SKIES

the third cycle of Expo Live’s flagship Innovation Impact Grant Programme. Each Global Innovator will receive a grant worth up to US$100,000 – as they meet ongoing conditions – plus business support and exposure. They could even get the chance to showcase their solutions to millions of visitors at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Competition was high during the latest cycle, with more than 1,200 applications from 114 countries. The successful innovators will join the existing community of Expo Live Global Innovators that now includes 70 grantees from 42 countries.

They are developing creative solutions in a variety of fields, including healthcare, education, renewable energy, fintech, waste management and water management.

“Expo Live is helping us to redefine what a World Expo can and should do,” explained Yousuf Caires, Vice President, Expo Live, Expo 2020 Dubai. “It taps into its convening power well before the event to enable problem-solvers around the globe to promote innovation and build partnerships that have a lasting legacy.”

EXPO2020DUBAI.COM

MHTE MHT E 1040K0 1040K015A0 15A00798 079800 0

L EG E N DA R Y

R E S O R T

info@eloundabeach.gr www.eloundabeach.gr

TH E

T H E

WAT E R FRON T

D RE A M L I N E

The Sea Shine

Bathroom with gym area

The Sea Crystal

The Sea Aura

Bathroom with gym area

The Sea Shine

30 / OPEN SKIES

NEIGHBOURHOOD

VENUE INDICATOR SHOPPING

DRINK

CULTURE

FOOD

SPORT

HOTEL

DUBAI’S HIPSTER SCALE

Why d3 hits the sweet spot

City Walk Dubai Luxury standalone retail options

Dubai Design District

DUBAI

Dubai Marina Cool restaurants and bars

UAE

DUBAI DESIGN DISTRICT WORDS: S. Hottinger-Behmer

55.2708° E

DUBAI

25.2048° N

The ultimate home of the region’s creative thinkers, Dubai Design District (d3) is the UAE’s undisputed hipster-haven and is spread across 11 low-rise buildings with a slick pedestrianised food and shopping scene, flexible offices and communal co-working spaces. It’s the shrewd coming together of a vibrant and contemporary mix of businesses providing the creative community with a suitable ecosystem and matching infrastructure. d3 has become a hub for international fashion brands, art galleries, media influencers, star architects and graphic designers, a collaborative place where small business coexists with global players.

Exhibitions, talks, events and a series of swanky pop-ups keep visitors to Dubai’s trendiest neighbourhood on their toes. Whether that’s in the comfort of sneakers when the yearly footwear and street culture showdown Sole DXB sets up shop, or in heels when the fashion pack sets up

camp during Fashion Forward. Casual and relaxed street-style places to eat thrive along d3’s wide and stylish walkways, a novelty in terms of the pedestrian experience in the city, comparable only to Dubai International Financial Centre’s clusterblueprint or City Walk.

Dubai’s new design epicentre was fashioned after other creative clusters such as London’s Shoreditch, Miami’s Design District and New York’s Meatpacking District to create a flourishing scene that is unique in the UAE. “We wanted to use the best of everywhere when we began making our own creative hub,” explains d3’s CEO Mohammad Saeed Al-Shehhi. Phase three will soon include residential canal-front towers, marinas and a range of trendy boutique hotels. While d3 follows its ambitions to place itself amongst the world’s leading creative centres, it serves the local community and visitors alike as a vibrant destination putting Dubai design firmly on the map.

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START

1.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

The Lighthouse is d3’s cool, calm and carefully curated concept store and kitchen. It’s the unofficial canteen of the creative set and a firm favourite for weekend brunch.

Half concept store half restaurant, it’s also the go-to gift shop for design aficionados looking for stylish tabletop accessories, handmade glassware and coffee table books, while the all-day kitchen serves up Mediterraneaninspired dishes and freshly baked Viennoiserie. After work, the aperitivo crowd takes over this neighbourhood meet-up to the tune of nu-disco beats. d3 BUILDING 6 | THELIGHTHOUSE.AE | TEL: +971 4 422-6024 32 / OPEN SKIES

A ONEMINUTE WALK

The district’s total area includes 13km of waterfront property Planning a visit to Dubai? Press the “i” button on ice and browse a world of information from your screen, including a guide to the city’s top attractions and events.

NEIGHBOURHOOD

2.

CHAPS & CO

The traditional English-style barbershop may have other branches around Dubai, but its d3 outpost is the newest and home to the UAE’s first female barber. It’s the grooming pit stop of choice for hipsters and local creative folk alike.

Closer to a gentlemen’s club than your standard in-and-out barber, Chaps & Co offers the full palette of grooming services for men. A lady’s salon next door makes sure no one is left out of a well-deserved beauty break. d3 BUILDING 6 – MEZZANINE FLOOR | CHAPSANDCO.AE | TEL: +971 4 240-6843 A ONEMINUTE WALK

Dubai Design District is being built in three phases as part of the Dubai Plan 2021, using Smart City principles that offer digital connectivity to create an innovation-led economy

3.

MONTROI

Here’s a store with a clear commitment to the needs of frequent travellers: Montroi was created to “celebrate nomadism” through handmade travel bags and accessories, fragrances, curated city guides, and cultural talks and events. It’s the brainchild of mod-nomad Enrique Hormigo, whose products are defined by their toughness, with a priority of ageing well, and by being as light as possible. “Our products are designed for longevity and are timeless in style”, Enrique explains. “There was a time when a bag would last for years and would become more beautiful over time: this is true luxury.” The handcrafted soft leather backpacks are a worthy bestseller. d3 BUILDING 7 | MONTROI.COM | TEL: +971 55 938-8481 OPEN SKIES / 33

A FOURMINUTE WALK

4.

EAST WING GALLERY

Hailed as one of Dubai’s most promising independent galleries for photo, video and print art, the up-and-coming East Wing gallery promotes international offthe-grid artists and dialogue through photography. Its current exhibition, Habibi Funk: A Spotlight on Arab Grooves, runs until late August and traces the “steps of a fusion of sounds and artists created in various Arab cities that are geographically distant from each other, yet share a common thread in their vanguard beats”, according to the gallery’s director, Elie Domit. d3 BUILDING 2 | EAST-WING.ORG | TEL: +971 50 553-3879

A THREEMINUTE WALK

More than 400 companies have opened up in d3, 60 per cent of them are SMEs

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NEIGHBOURHOOD

5.

AKIBA DORI

Be sure to stop by at Akiba Dori, the new generation resto-bar for lovers of Japanese street food. A food hall-style indoor alleyway presents seven storefronts serving everything from bar food to ‘Tokyopolitan’ fusion pizzas baked in wood-fired ovens in less than a minute. According to its founders, “Akiba Dori is inspired by the backstreets of Akihabara in Tokyo.” d3 BUILDING 8 | +971 4 770-7949

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THE YEAR OF ZAYED

UAE

LIFE IN THE DESERT

Throughout 2018, Open Skies will honour the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. This month: how his environmental reforms helped a nation grow and prosper

What is the Year of Zayed?

To celebrate the centennial anniversary of the birth of the UAE’s founding father, 2018 will see 12 months of events to honour the life and legacy of Sheikh Zayed

SOURCE: SHEIKH ZAYED: LIFE AND TIMES (NOOR ALI RASHID) | BOOKSARABIA.COM

WORDS: STEVE JOHNSON

54.3773° E

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ABU DHABI

Sheikh Zayed’s outlook on conservation undoubtedly came from his early years in the desert. Even in Al Ain in 1946, long before it became a popular international issue, he was taking steps that would have a profound effect on the region’s environment. The cleaning and expanding of the falaj system (irrigation water canals) and the large-scale planting of trees and shrubs are just two examples that led to the region on the Eastern

36 / OPEN SKIES

border with Oman becoming known as “the oasis city”.

But this was only the beginning, and when Sheikh Zayed became Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, his programme to develop agriculture and afforestation, as well as fighting desertification, continued.

Other environmental initiatives included the setting aside of Sir Bani Yas Island as a wildlife

A total of 10 Emirates aircraft carry a special ‘Year of Zayed’ livery for 2018. These ‘Year of Zayed’ aircraft have circled the globe to over 90 cities on over 1,800 flights.

sanctuary for protecting some of Arabia’s most endangered species – such as the Arabian oryx and the Arabian gazelle – and the inauguration of the Zayed International Prize for the Environment – at US$1m, the most valuable environmental prize in the world. The Federal Environment Agency and Abu Dhabi’s Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency were also set up under Sheikh Zayed’s auspices and, in February 1988, he declared an annual Environment Day on February 4 (World Environment Day is this month on June 5).

Along the way, Sheikh Zayed won many awards, such as the prestigious Gold Panda Award of the World Wide Fund for Nature, and at the end of his life, an amazing 150 million trees had been planted in what was once an arid and almost barren desert.

SLEEP IS LIFE’S GREATEST PLEASURE.

SLEEP IS LIFE’S GREATEST PLEASURE.

TASTE

BUSINESS LUNCH

MORIMOTO DUBAI

Three reasons to visit Masaharu Morimoto’s new place downtown

Ramusake’s new Teishoku menu is worth calling a meeting for Anybody seeking a work lunch option that will keep their attention way past business hours should look no further than the new Teishoku lunch menu at Ramusake in DoubleTree by Hilton.

A sharp, US$30 four-course meal kicks off with a tasty combination of miso soup, edamame and fried pepper squid, after which you’re making choices on smartly formed parcels of sushi, gyoza and a robata [Japanese grill] main course – we heartily recommend the beef rib with yuzu koshu mash. Close on a couple of kinako doughnuts for maximum success.

But while the new menu will definitely get you through the doors for lunch, it’s the eclectic funk soundtrack and 1920s ‘show era’ Tokyo x Blade Runner décor that will lead you to stay well into the night.

THURSDAY TO SUNDAY, 13.00-16.00 | DOUBLETREE BY HILTON | DUBAI, UAE RAMUSAKE.AE

1. The food Packed with great Japanese-Western fusion options, whether you’re at the sushi counter or enjoying the fine dining teppanyaki – you have to try the oysters – the menu is a roaring success.

2. The restaurant There are 250 restaurant seats and a large bar area with a contemporary design rooted in Japan. Spread over two floors you’ll also find a private dining option that’s so VIP it requires a secret pin code for entry.

RENAISSANCE DOWNTOWN HOTEL | DUBAI, UAE | MORIMOTODUBAI.COM

THE 24-KARAT GOLD BURGER Dine like a king at Maison Rouge Despite sounding like something dreamt up on mid-80s Elton John’s pre-show rider, the golden burger is real. Weighing in at a cool US$100 and found at fine dining and entertainment restaurant Maison Rouge, it consists of a high-quality 300g Angus beef burger and is topped with fresh tomatoes, crispy greens, melted cheese and the chef’s secret burger sauce recipe.

The showstopper is the homemade red velvet burger bun that’s frosted in 24-karat edible gold. Eat it then tell yourself that, one day, you will run the world.

THE H DUBAI | DUBAI, UAE, | MAISONROUGE.COM For more on Dubai’s incredible dining scene check out the Dubai Restaurants podcast on ice channel 1906.

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3. The view Morimoto has four terraces in total, with only one of them kept open during summer. Thankfully you’ve still got uninterrupted Burj Khalifa views with an outdoor bar and live DJ every night of the week.

USA

DANIEL SCHNEIDER Lunch at Chaya in Downtown Los Angeles with a marine biologist who’s trying to change the world WORDS: Marina Kay

IMAGES: Vincent Long

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LOS ANGELES

Last year, marine biologist Daniel Schneider visited Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest living organism. The news he brought back from the Unesco World Heritage Site was devastating.

“Most of what I saw was bleached and about 25 per cent of the reef looked like this,” he says, pointing to the pristine white linen covering our table. Corals starve when the ocean absorbs too much carbon dioxide from excessive fossil-fuel burning, causing water temperatures to rise, leading to higher acidity, and then bleaching. “You don’t understand that a coral is dying until you’re shown what it looked like before,” he tells me, referencing the recent must-watch documentary Chasing Coral, which does a good job of doing just that. “And that’s not even the worst part of the ocean – it’s the plastics causing this acidification also. And microplastics getting dumped in there.”

I meet Schneider at FrenchAsian fusion restaurant Chaya in Downtown LA. He’s just back from a shark diving expedition with clients in Los Cabos, Mexico, and the beautiful dining room, backed by a stunning 10-metre hand-painted landscape mural by Japanese artist Ajioka, bustles with the local work 40 / OPEN SKIES

crowd during the lunchtime rush.

A quick scroll through Schneider’s Twitter feed @BiologistDan shows his longstanding concern for our changing planet and how interdependent we are on its survival. In April 2016, Senator Bernie Sanders retweeted one of Schneider’s posts about global warming, and added Schneider to his followers list. “That’s when my followers began to spike,” he says.

“Looking back, it’s funny because a single tweet today gets 10 times the views it did back then.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in molecular evolution, Schneider began working as a lab director for a biotech company doing cancer research. At the same time he was leading whale-watching tours in Boston for a company called Mass Bay Lines. It took him four years to realise that he wasn’t an “indoor” biologist and more and more clients began requesting private dives. Around that time, he was approached by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) channel to comment on whales, and was getting hired to do talks, too. Seven years ago, Schneider started his own Boston-based company. His current day-to-day involves taking clients on environmental and ecoEmirates operates a daily A380 service to Los Angeles.

dive tours, coordinating corporate retreats, doing background checks on information packets for nonprofits including Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and fact checking educational literature. “Right now I’m reviewing a textbook on sharks by a professor from Johns Hopkins,” he reveals.

Our lunch arrives, presented beautifully in bento boxes, the square compartments filled with a selection of stylishly crafted morsels: a California sushi roll; grilled sea bream with broccolini, sauteed Brussels sprouts and chili miso; grilled chicken breast with sugar snap peas, tuna, yellowtail, salmon nigiri and scallop ceviche, the list goes on. A whole grilled black sea bream completes our table

LUNCH WITH

presentation and naturally turns our conversation to sustainable fishing (Chaya works with sustainable fish suppliers, if you’re wondering).

“What does sustainable mean?

Not overfishing,” Schneider says. “One of the big problems is salmon. Let’s talk about salmon in Washington, Puget Sound. There’s a lot of salmon up there but it’s not wild. What’s happening is that farmraised salmon is taking over, and what’s worse is that Atlantic salmon is getting dumped into Puget Sound, causing a whole cascade of things. Orcas are starving to death because there’s not enough of the wild Pacific salmon. They’re particular about what they eat, and won’t eat the Atlantic salmon.” And then there are the huge drift nets

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers an area three times the size of France between Hawaii and California. It totals 1.8 trillion plastic pieces and weighs over 80,000 tonnes that are dumped into the ocean (net fishing is the most damaging way to catch fish, not to mention being illegal), which capture everything including dolphins, sock eyes, tunas and whole schools of fish that end up losing their reproductive viability. Furthermore, companies using ghost nets only go back to collect those that are heavy in weight. The others are simply left in the ocean, catch onto reefs, collect

debris, and sadly, marine life with it.

“Becoming environmentally conscious is not as hard as it seems,” says Scheider. “Every time you go to a restaurant, say ‘I don’t want a straw.’” No change is too small. “In Boston, it only took us a year to get them to ban plastic bags. California State has done away with plastic bags – they’re phasing [them out].”

Education about our waste culture is vital if we are to make strides towards a more hopeful future. “You need to get the ball rolling, starting in schools,” continues Schneider.

“Curriculums need to change and schools need to lead by example by not using plastics, while kids need to pester their parents to use canvas bags.” In Boston, environmental conservation is part of the collective consciousness. As for the rest of the United States? “We’re working on it,” he laughs. “A lot of environmental groups are trying to include it in school curriculums, but the problem is that the textbooks don’t really want to teach evolution.”

It’s not the US that produces most of the ocean garbage that’s mostly made up of plastic, incidentally, but India and China via the Indian Ocean, Schneider explains. For facts and figures, you only have to Google ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ and you can read up about the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world. Covering an area three times the size of France and located between Hawaii and California, the mass totals 1.8 trillion plastic pieces and weighs over 80,000 tonnes. “It’s incredible,” Schneider says. “It’s a problem that’s not unmanageable, but it’s expensive.” He has since tweeted about Henderson Island in the South Pacific, the most polluted place on earth, stating that 19 tonnes of garbage – that’s 38 million pieces have washed ashore this uninhabited island.

This summer, Schneider will run a Periscope feed using his OPEN SKIES / 41

LUNCH WITH

@BiologistDan handle. “Periscope has a new feature where you can use DJI Drone footage as your video feed. You can toggle between your live feed and the drone. I’ll be going on location to show good and bad environmentalism. I’ll show huge garbage patches. You’d be surprised where they are. I’ll be in Florida for ‘turtle runs’ and in New England filming whale and shark behaviour.

Feel-good things like that.” He’ll also be showing the negatives, too.

“For obvious reasons, I can’t say where I’ll be doing that. It would be very hard to get permits to bring the drone to some countries if they knew what I would be showing. Dam operators blocking salmon migration in Oregon, which leads to orca starvation, could take countermeasures to block my drones. Whale hunts, dolphin captures, cruise ship trash dumping, and fishermen dropping long drift nets are just examples of footage I’ll be taking and explaining why they’re bad.”

Preventing ocean pollution is paramount and, at a grassroots level, we should consider approaching companies about curbing single-use plastics and bringing in our own glass bottles to refill. “Let’s talk about Coca-Cola for a second,” he says. “People have been after Coca-Cola for quite a while about their bottles. They are the number one producer of plastic bottle waste in the world.

If you go into a supermarket now, you’ll notice they now have the big machines that allow you to bring in your own bottle. This will ultimately take over at Coca-Cola. You go to a movie theatre, an AMC, and they have those machines. They’ll be in 7-Elevens. Same with Starbucks: If you bring in your cup, for example, they’ll fill it with coffee for half the price; small Boston coffee shops 42 / OPEN SKIES

THE BILL 2 SAKE FLIGHTS (US$36) 2 BENTO BOXES (US$78) 1 GRILLED BLACK SEABREAM (US$38)

TOTAL: US$152

give a discount too; in Argentina, you can’t buy a beer without bringing in an old can.” Refilling from bulk bins and machines is doable but they aren’t numerous, especially if stores don’t push producers to change their ways.

So the next best thing, Schneider suggests, is to choose companies that use planet-friendly packaging, or recycled plastic at least.

As for large-scale cleanup efforts, ambitious proposals include hooking cargo ships with garbage trawlers that scoop trash. But locally, the onus is on communities to take responsibility for their surroundings and pick up after themselves.

Schneider goes to beaches in Boston once a month to pick up discarded plastics – something we can all do, from Goa to LA. In between heart wrenching posts, Schneider’s Twitter feed offers glimmers of hope. Soundbites

such as: Good news! For the first time since counting began, the number of critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in Cambodia has increased from 80 to 95.

Fishermen in the Mekong River have stopped using unsupervised drift nets while fishing. Keep it up.

And: Saviours. Yesterday rescuers from the Centre of Coastal Studies freed a humpback whale who was entangled in fishing line in Cape Cod Bay. This is dangerous but necessary work.

There are so few whales left.

After our interview wraps, I come across a Los Angeles Times article that was posted that very same day, stating that as of June 1, 2018, Malibu will enforce a ban on all plastic utensils, stirrers and even plastic straws, swapping them out with those made of paper, wood, or bamboo. Malibu was the first city to ban plastic bags, which went on to influence statewide change. Leading by example, Malibu should once again succeed in influencing city, country, and even worldwide change with this most recent single-use plastics ban. At least that’s the hope.

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COLUMN

BEIRUT

ADVENTURES IN TRAVEL WRITING

Dom Joly’s heading off to write a travel book in Beirut – at least that’s what he’s telling us…

IMAGE: Adam Patterson

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BEIRUT

33.8938° N

I’m just about to head off and write my next travel book. The plan is to walk the length of Lebanon – from the border in the south to the border in the north – along with two of my very best friends.

When I planned the trip about a year ago, I was full of bravado and excitement. Much early shopping was done, with curiously middleaged items such as walking poles and gaiters being purchased. Then, as the departure date drew nearer, cracks started appearing in the ranks. It began with an email.

One of my friends sent a photograph of a rather gorgeous hotel in Thailand along with a fiendish suggestion. “How about we say goodbye to our other halves and families and head off to the airport

as conquering heroes. But instead of departing for Beirut, we fly to Bangkok and check into this place?”

The plan was to have a wonderfully relaxing three-week holiday while pretending to the world that we were struggling through the mountains of Lebanon. Nothing would be left to chance and I was to regularly post online updates of our travails along with some stock photos of the beautiful Lebanese hinterland.

When it came to the actual book he suggested that I just fake the whole expedition. “How hard can it be?” he asked. He had a point.

A lot of travel writing is flirting with truth. You exaggerate for comic effect, you mix timelines and events Emirates operates three non-stop daily services to Beirut with the Boeing 777-300ER. Please note reduced frequencies during Ramadan to two non-stop daily services, until 4 June.

to better tell a story. I daresay some bounders even make themselves look braver, fitter and funnier than they actually are. So my friend’s idea was not unattractive. I could sit by the pool in Thailand composing my adventures.

We would start in Beirut on a bacchanalian last night, dancing until dawn in the ruins of an old cinema. Then we’d set off, walking through mountain villages whose inhabitants would come out to throw flowers at our feet and cheer us on. Along the way I would make an important new archaeological find; an undiscovered Roman temple that locals would name after me – despite my protestations.

As we climbed higher and higher, eventually reaching the snowcapped mountain peaks, we would get involved in an altercation. A local mistreating a young woman and I would bravely step in to help.

We would be taken hostage and a video released in which people couldn’t help commenting on how brave I appeared. We would eventually escape and make our way back to freedom on skis, but not before I unexpectedly won the Lebanese ski trials and married the young woman whom I’d saved.

Reading this back, I realise that it would indeed make an excellent book. Possibly a lot more exciting than the one I’m actually about to write. Who knows? That’s one of the true joys of genuine travel writing.

You place yourself in the situation and press go. Whatever happens next is your story.

OPEN SKIES / 45

STILL MAKING HISTORY

FEATURES

STILL MAKING HISTORY • THE LIGHTS OF ROME • HOW TO EAT LIKE AN ITALIAN

THE QE2 IN DUBAI With a new home in Dubai, you can now play your part in the history of one of the world’s most famous ocean liners.

Turn over for more

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ST I L L MAKING

H I S T

STILL MAKING HISTORY

The QE2 is one of the most revered ocean liners that the world has ever seen. But after a life at sea, it now has a new purpose in Dubai... and it’s still making waves WORDS: Neil Squires

T O R Y

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DUBAI

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Why would someone board an ocean liner to go nowhere? People do not pay for the pleasure of sitting on a motionless plane or inside a stationary car – not intentionally anyway – so what makes a ship any different?

The concept of the floating hotel has always been slightly contradictory but there are floating hotels and then there is the QE2.

Other than the Titanic, she may just be the most famous liner in history.

Retired a decade ago after sailing further than any other ship – almost six million nautical miles in almost 40 years navigating the globe – the QE2 has returned to stationary service in the UAE. If you want a different view, you will need to cross the deck and swap the tranquil Arabian Gulf waters for the soaring Dubai skyline.

The QE2 is late on in life for such a radical career change but, lovingly restored, the hope is that the blend of British heritage and Dubai service will prove a hit.

DUBAI

LOCATION: PORT RASHID VISIT: GRAND LAUNCH IN OCTOBER CURRENT TEMP: LOW 43°F/HIGH 61°F VISIT: QE2.COM This month the Emirates World podcast on ice channel 1900 features an interview with CEO of PCFC Hotels, Hamza Mustafa, who takes us around the legendary QE2 now open in Port Rashid, Dubai.

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STILL MAKING HISTORY

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STILL MAKING HISTORY

The Queen Elizabeth 2, to give the ship her full title, was proudly launched in 1967 from the Clyde dockyards by Her Majesty as the ultimate flagship of the Cunard fleet. With her graceful curves and contemporary interiors, she breathed new life and style into ocean travel at a time when airlines were threatening to take over completely.

When she arrived in New York in May 1969 on her maiden voyage from Southampton, it was like

WHEN SHE ARRIVED IN NEW YORK IN MAY 1969 ON HER MAIDEN VOYAGE FROM SOUTHAMPTON, IT WAS LIKE A ROCK STAR HAD ARRIVED

a rock star had arrived. State governor Nelson Rockefeller came on board as she sailed past the Statue of Liberty to fireworks and a military fly-past as the champagne flowed. One thousand bottles were on board for every return crossing.

The QE2 was the ship for the swinging ’60s.The stewards wore turtlenecks, the waitresses in the coffee shop mini-skirts. “Ships have been boring long enough,” was the slogan she sailed by.

The stars descended upon her – David Bowie, Elton John, Neil Diamond, James Cagney, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor all spent time aboard.

Speedier than her larger transatlantic contemporaries, she could plough across the Atlantic in a comfortable five days. The ship’s co-designer, James Gardner,

SHIPYARD The QE2 was built on the same Clydebank plot as the Lusitania and the Aquitana

compared her functional elegance to that of a Bentley at sea.

She was a cruiser as well as a liner, and on one trip around the West Indies in 1971, she had to come to the aid of the stricken SS Antilles, which was on fire off the coast of Mustique, and rescued its 500 passengers and crew. In 1982 the QE2 was temporarily turned into a troop carrier to ferry servicemen to the Falklands during the conflict with Argentina.

But as the adventures on the high seas continued, the tide was turning against Cunard and with the company losing money, the QE2’s fortunes began to ebb.

In 1992 she ran aground off Martha’s Vineyard and 575 passengers had to be evacuated.

Two years later a Christmas cruise had to be cancelled and the passengers returned to land after the

OPEN SKIES / 53

I WORKED ON THE QE2 Kenneth Goff

Penthouse waiter “Dean Martin and his family were amongst the passengers I served.

Every night Mr Martin would order chicken, French bread and coffee, and occasionally he would call for coffee around 2.30am.

“John Travolta used to go running round the deck at 3am to avoid the fans that used to knock on his cabin door every night. He would call into my pantry and have a chat on his way back to his cabin.”

Maureen Ryan

Hostess

“It was my job to mingle with guests, introducing them to one another at cocktail parties onboard. I also hosted coffee mornings and ladiesonly classes such as sewing, knitting and even how to fold napkins for your dinner table.

“Although the QE2 did change enormously in her 40 years and moved with the times, she never lost that wonderful tradition that had made her the greatest ocean liner in the world.

I always felt she encompassed the best of everything.”

THE CAPTAIN’S TABLE There are five dining spots open now, and three more to come on board the QE2

54 / OPEN SKIES

ship failed fire-and-safety inspections.

She battled on to break Cunard’s record for the longest-serving transatlantic liner but by 2008, the writing was on the wall and the impending introduction of stringent new safety requirements, which she would have failed by a distance, was the final nail in the coffin.

After 1,429 voyages, carrying almost 2.5m passengers, the QE2’s time as an ocean-going liner was up.

As the Cunard flag was lowered at the completion of her final two-week cruise in September of that year, the QE2’s foghorn sounded 39 times, one for each year of service. It was the end of an era. Passengers and crew alike were in tears.

But there was life in the old liner yet. The Dubai government had bought her for US$100m with the aim of turning her into an opulent hotel on Palm Jumeirah, but the global financial crisis put plans on hold. In 2009 there was talk of

sailing her to Cape Town to house fans at the following year’s football World Cup. Liverpool and London were raised as possible homes, then Victoria Harbour.

Finally though, behind the scenes, came movement. The original grandiose plans were reconfigured, her dock at Mina Rashid was made a permanent home and, 2.7 million man hours of painstaking restoration work later, the QE2 threw open her doors again in April 2018.

There was trepidation amongst traditionalists but the initial reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. QE2 enthusiast and former passenger Alex Tarry, and his wife Naomi, were one of the first to try her out.

“I cannot imagine a better outcome for QE2, in our opinion she is in great hands,” he said. “Most of her beautiful features appear to be present and correct, including her distinctive smell, which brings back

STILL MAKING HISTORY

all kinds of wonderful memories.”

The refurbishment bill is considerably more than the US$40m it cost to build her but it has been worth it. The look and, just as importantly, the timeless feel remains intact. Even the The Queen’s Grill’s flavours are the same, with the restaurant offering a tasting menu featuring dishes that were available on the ship’s maiden voyage, eaten with the original cutlery. Partially re-opened at present, there will be a full all-singing, all-dancing launch in October when all 13 bars and restaurants will be open for business.

Her latest refit, like all her previous regenerations, has brought tweaks – this time with a local flavour. The UAE flag flies on board while alongside the portraits of a youthful Queen Elizabeth 2 and Samuel Cunard hang images of Dubai’s rulers. The Yacht Club serves shisha on its terrace. While the US and UK are an obvious target market for the one-time transatlantic liner, her owners PCFC Hotels – part of the Dubai Government’s Ports, Customs and Free Zones Corporation – report significant local interest too.

“It has taken a lot of passion and over 2.7 million man hours to restore her to former glory,” says Hamza Mustafa, the CEO of PCFC Hotels. “Our challenge was to walk the fine line between modernising her infrastructure without losing the charm and design aesthetics.

This has taken some creativity – like recreating her original carpet designs – but overall we’re extremely proud of what we have achieved.

“We have hosted a number of passengers now who have had a fantastic experience onboard – and those who had stayed on her during her sailing years have been enamoured with the results.”

But while this new addition to the Dubai hospitality market might appear a shot across the bows of

the competition, the reality is a little different. “The QE2 complements rather than competes,” explains Mustafa. “We fully expect tourists to Dubai to split their time between a more traditional beach or city hotel followed by a few nights onboard – discovering the history of the QE2 and all that she has to offer.”

While all that points to a harmonious arrangement, one thing is for certain: while onboard the QE2, guests will be set for a special experience. The 224 rooms have been brought up to date with flatscreen TVs and mobile phone key access. The accommodation ranges from snug standard cabins, initially priced at US$135 per night, to the two sprawling Royal suites – Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary – which are offered on an invitation-only basis.

“IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO US TO RETAIN THE SAME ATMOSPHERE SHE HAD. WE HAVE RESTORED HER AS CLOSELY AS WE POSSIBLY COULD HAVE DONE TO HOW SHE IS ORIGINALLY REMEMBERED.” If you are not on the VVIP list then you can always take the Captain’s Cabin and live like one of the 25 men to captain the ship – albeit minus the adventure on the high seas.

There is nostalgia in that of course and some may prefer to remember her in her ocean-going prime. But, in her new guise, she retains a unique presence that offers something different to Dubai’s tourism landscape.

The QE2’s days at sea may have gone, but it’s true what they say… style never goes out of fashion.

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T H E L I G HT S

As the World Cup begins in Russia, Ali Khaled, editor of FourFourTwo Arabia and director of Anwar Roma, looks back on a UAE national team that defied all the odds to qualify for Italia 90, and the movie he helped create that tells its unforgettable story

OF ROME

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DUBAI

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The debate over the UAE’s finest sporting moment is not a particularly long one.

One achievement stands out all on its own, 29 years after it took place on the football fields of Singapore. Yet for years it remained a rather forgotten story.

When the UAE began its campaign to qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, not many people gave them a hope – including their own supporters. Even the players weren’t totally convinced, with few of legendary Brazilian coach Mario Zagalo’s squad believing it anything but a quixotic fantasy.

Much of that shredded hope was perhaps a legacy from events four years previously, when the UAE came heartbreakingly close to qualifying for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Leading Iraq 2-0 in the second match of a two-legged tie, they were seconds away from effectively progressing to the World Cup at the first time of asking. As an ecstatic television commentator fatefully called on Emirati fans to greet the heroes at Dubai airport the following day, Iraq grabbed an equaliser deep into injury time. The UAE players were on their knees, weeping, and Iraq progressed on the away goals rule.

Having come so close in 1985, the chances of the UAE getting another opportunity four years later – with a less fancied team and in a far more difficult format – were practically non-existent; in this game you rarely get second chances. But when they do come, they’re worth remembering, and so a decision to commit the story to film was taken by the chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Image Nation, Mohamed Al Mubarak. Specialists in documenting Emirati achievement, Image Nation began work on the movie in 2014. But the seeds of this story were sewn far earlier.

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A FORGOTTEN STORY

The embryonic stages of what eventually became Anwar Roma first took place in the weeks leading up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Looking to write a feature on the 20th anniversary of the UAE’s qualification to Italia 90, I was struck by how little documentation, in Arabic or English, in print or on film, there was of what I and many others believe to be the nation’s finest footballing achievement.

A starting point was to talk to fans. One by one, distant memories were dusted off. Not everyone recalled the qualification results correctly, though flashbacks to the action in Italy was easier to

FAN POWER The UAE fans made the most of their time at Italia 90, even though their team lost each group match

prompt. A pleasantly surprising number remembered the goosebump inducing commentary that greeted qualification and lent the documentary its title. And many more could reel off the names of what would fondly become known as the Golden Generation, or the 1990 Generation.

Adnan Talyani, the UAE’s finest player; Muhsin Musabah, the team’s athletic goalkeeper; Khalid Ismail and Ali Thani, who would go on to score the UAE goals in Italy; veteran back-up goalkeeper Abdulqadir Hassan; young defender Abdulrahman Al Haddad; Naser Khamees and older brother and team veteran Fahad Khamees.

THE LIGHTS OF ROME

The UAE owes a huge debt to those names. And yet as recently as six years ago, their astonishing achievement had been all but forgotten. Sure, you could find a few YouTube clips here, the odd Arabic language article there; but there was no serious documentation of a truly historical and cultural moment, one that helped raise the profile of the UAE around the world.

IN 1989, EVERY MEMBER OF THE SQUAD THAT FLEW OUT TO SINGAPORE WAS BORN BEFORE THE SEVEN EMIRATES HAD BEEN UNIFIED

And so Anwar Roma, the documentary, was born. Literally “The Lights of Rome”, from the memorable line uttered by commentator Adnan Hamad as it dawned on him that the UAE had pulled off the miracle of World Cup qualification. “I can see the lights of Rome now,” he wept on a glorious night in Singapore.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

It’s difficult to overestimate just how implausible the UAE’s march to the World Cup really was. Every member of the squad that flew out to the qualifying match in Singapore in 1989 had been born before the seven emirates were unified on December 2, 1971. All of them recall modest upbringings brightened by their love of football. As Naser Khamees endearingly remembers, it was a case of “lifting your kandoora, and playing barefoot on the sand”.

The 22 children that would grow up to make the squad that played in Italy were scattered across a land that barely resembled the one in 1990, never mind in 2018.

Yet, under one flag and following the ingenious path

plotted for the nation by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, football – already practiced by a disparate group of clubs prior to unification – proliferated. The UAE football association was established at the end of 1971 and became one of the fledgling country’s first institutions to join an international association when it became an official member of FIFA just months later. The UAE’s very first international match came at the second Gulf Cup of Nations in Saudi Arabia on March 17, 1972, a 1-0 win over Qatar.

The Football League was established in time for the 1973-74 season, and the majority of the squad that went to the 1990 World Cup was made up of players from the two leading clubs of the time, Al Wasl and Sharjah Football Club.

Football, however, remained a distinctly amateur undertaking. Not one of the players was a professional footballer, and all had to juggle their playing career with a regular job or education. The likes of Ali Thani and Abdulrahman Al Haddad took time off from university to take part in the World Cup qualifiers. Made up of OPEN SKIES / 59

regular working men, the UAE squad that flew out to Singapore had far more on their mind than just football, but in time that would change.

CONSTRUCTING ANWAR ROMA

Seeking out the players over two decades later was harder than anticipated. After the glory of qualification to – and taking part in – Italia 90, the players returned to a life less glamorous in the domestic league. The Italian adventure was, by some distance, the highpoint of their careers – although several of the Golden Generation, including Al Talyani, managed to reach the 1996 AFC Asian Cup final in Abu Dhabi, only to miss out on a first trophy by losing on penalties to a wonderful Saudi Arabian team.

As, one by one, they retired from football, the players then returned to the relative obscurity of their regular full-time jobs. At first many of them, very humbly, declined the invitation to be part of the documentary.

TO BE RUBBING SHOULDERS WITH THE LIKES OF DIEGO MARADONA, LOTHAR MATTHÄUS AND MARCO VAN BASTEN AT THE WORLD CUP WAS A CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT FOR THE UAE These are modest players who had represented their country proudly and were not seeking personal attention. Yet they had hugely underestimated the esteem and love they still elicited. It was clear that though World Cup qualification remained an increasingly distant memory, it still lived on in the collective consciousness of the Emirati public.

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As it turned out, those glorious but now hazy footballing days just needed a bit of prompting. Slowly, as the players embraced the project, a fuller picture of what took place back in October 1989 emerged.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

South Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar and North Korea. These were the teams standing in the way of the UAE and the World Cup as they flew out to Singapore for the AFC final round of qualification from Asia. At the time, all five opponents were considered not just better prepared, but better in general, than Zagalo’s men.

To say that the Emirati campaign was in a somewhat chaotic state would be kind. For one, it lacked the leadership of the man who had transformed UAE football over the previous decade. Just weeks before the qualifiers were scheduled to kick off in Singapore, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, beloved UAE Football Association president and, as Al Haddad put it, “godfather to the players”, left his post. Without his guidance, the UAE Football Association was in turmoil. There were doubts that the UAE would even fulfill their fixture commitments, with commentator Hamad recalling in the film that the team only flew out to avoid being sanctioned by FIFA. To add to the farcical nature of the start of the campaign, two of the players almost missed the flight to Singapore, believing it had already departed. They were found, in the nick of time, having lunch at a cafeteria near the old Abu Dhabi airport.

The local media barely bothered discussing the country’s chances.

Newspapers buried snippets of the team’s news on their sports pages, and there was no Emirati commentary team for the first match against North Korea, which ended in an uninspiring 0-0 draw.

GROUP OF DEATH The UAE’s tough group featured Yugoslavia, Colombia and West Germany

They would change their tune quickly after what could be the UAE’s greatest ever result, against China, five days later.

THE MIRACLE IN SINGAPORE

A quarter of century on from their finest achievement, the players’ memories of that period remain remarkably sharp. The understated start, the punishing rain and muddy conditions; and the gradual realisation by a group of players with nothing to lose that something magical was taking place.

Tracking down some of the old footage proved unsurprisingly difficult. Indeed, it was this exact scarcity of archival material that prompted the desire to make Anwar Roma in the first place. But the months spent digging up old photos and video footage was

THE LIGHTS OF ROME

worth the effort. As the players watched clips from the matches in Singapore, the emotion was there for all to see, especially when reliving that match against China on October 17, 1989.

Losing by a solitary goal as full time approached, the UAE’s World Cup campaign was seconds from effectively ending. What happened next changed the course of UAE football history. It was an ending so dramatic that many fans wrongly remember it as the moment the UAE qualified to the World Cup. In fact, confirmation of progress and Hamad’s memorable commentary would come three matches and eleven days later, against South Korea.

But those dying moments against China are the beating heart of Anwar Roma. It was when Zagalo’s team was reborn,

when the public’s interest in the campaign was reawakened and, above all else, when UAE football history’s two most priceless points paved the way for eventual qualification to the World Cup.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, PART TWO

By the time the World Cup came around in June 1990, Zagalo had been replaced by his predecessor, Carlos Alberto Parreira, who had presided over the team between 1984-1988, including that harrowing experience against Iraq.

His task at the World Cup was impossible and so, paradoxically,

Pick up your copy of the ice magazine available in your seat pocket for a full schedule of live World Cup matches airing on the Sport 24 channels this month. Most Emirates 777s and select A380s air live TV on the awardwinning ice inflight entertainment system.

it was impossible for him to fail.

The UAE were placed in a brutally difficult group, which boasted a strong Colombia, a supremely gifted Yugoslavia and the team that would eventually win the competition outright, West Germany.

Not surprisingly the UAE lost all three group matches, though the team made many friends with their attitude, and Khalid Ismail and Ali Thani would go down in history as the UAE’s only World Cup goal scorers, respectively against West Germany and Yugoslavia. But in many ways, the results hardly mattered.

“In those days if you qualified for the World Cup, you’d already won!”

Parreira explains. And he’s right. To simply be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthäus and Marco van Basten at the World Cup was a crowning achievement for a group of players that could barely have conceived of such a notion growing up as children in 1970s UAE. They had won their own World Cup that day back in October 1989. The day Adnan Hamad could see the lights of Rome all the way from Singapore.

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Ancestral flavours infuse the age-old gastronomy of Italy’s southeastern region of Puglia, where family is the main ingredient WORDS AND IMAGES: Sarah Freeman

How to eat like an Italian

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PUGLIA

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Italy has a fierce attachment to food, and nowhere more so than Puglia – the spur on the heel of the country’s geographic boot. The region’s agricultural, maritime and pastoral history has left its imprint on the cuisine, which, above all, reflects Puglians’ self-sufficiency.

Known as the garden of Italy, Puglia’s land of shepherds, farmers and fishermen may be bountiful, but the region’s cooking style is proudly frugal, with many of its dishes borne out of necessity. Its historically poor infrastructure has given way to hyper-local produce and a seasonal diet. Puglians have been eating farm-to-plate long before the term ‘locavore’ was even coined.

This resourcefulness continues today, with locals making use of whatever is at hand when it comes to cooking, whether it’s easy-to-forage wild chicory or their neighbour’s sundried tomatoes.

Nothing goes to waste. Pasta rotta is a dish made from broken, irregular bits of pasta, whilst surplus dough is used to make Puglia’s original street food: deepfried Panzerotti bread. Regional favourites like Fava e Cicoria and Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa have their origins in cucina povera (a poor man’s feast), and stand out for their simplicity.

But it’s not just what Puglians eat, it’s how they eat. Their tradition-bound habits stem from leaner times, when friends and family had no choice but to come together for regular meals to share the little food they had. This sense of community endures today, with villagers paying daily visits to their local fornelli (a communal oven) and taking their olive harvest to a neighbourhood press.

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HOW TO EAT LIKE AN ITALIAN

LIVING OFF THE LAND

Almost 80 per cent of Puglia’s population lives in rural areas – eating and living from the land and sea, as their forefathers did.

Edged by 800km of coastline, this sun-drenched region’s long summers produce fruit, olives, grains, cheese and vegetables such as artichokes and fennel. And its fertile Tavoliere plain yields huge quantities of durum wheat, used to make its famous Altamura bread and orecchiette pasta, the region’s gastronomic symbol.

SUNDAY DINNER

The people of Puglia are a stickler for tradition, and family dining remains a ritual in this southern region. On Sundays (a customary day of feasting in Puglia), towns like Giovinazzo fall silent at noon as families and close friends gather around the table.

It’s not just eating; food shopping, preparing and cooking all bring the family together. After a siesta (which is practically sacrosanct), locals will descend en masse to espresso bars that line Giovinazzo’s Vittorio Emanuele II Square.

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THE GOLD OF APULIA

Puglians have the Greeks to thank for their 60 million, 2,000-year-old, gnarled olive trees. This region alone produces 300,000 tons every year and a quarter of Europe’s olive oil – known locally as the ‘Gold of Apulia’. Most residents like Teresa Stufano own a small orchard of around 400 trees, located out of town. Here, they harvest their own liquid gold with the help of neighbourhood olive presses like the family-owned Oleificio Fratelli Turturro, that has been working this land for five generations.

NONNA’S LITTLE EARS

It’s not uncommon to see local ladies hand roll orecchiette on a makeshift table in their doorways. Puglian nonnas (grandmothers) keep things authentic using burnt wheat flour in the eggless dough, which is cut, then deftly sculpted into saucer-shaped pasta nubs or “little ears”. Typically, the orecchiette is served with cime di rapa (a native broccoli) or with a simple passata sauce (homemade sieved tomato puree). Unlike other regions, Apulian’s tend to mix the pasta in with the main course.

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HOW TO EAT LIKE AN ITALIAN

COMMUNAL BAKERY

The era of oven-less kitchens in the region may be long gone, but Puglians continue to congregate at communal village bakeriesslash-ovens (fornellis), as their grandparents once did. Locals pile into Giovinazzo’s Antico Forno Polacco, where earthenwear vessels of Patate riso e cozze, olive-encrusted focaccia and jugs of chickpea casseroles are shovelled into the century-old, twometre-deep wood-burning stove.

Trays of Frisedde (dry biscuits traditionally eaten by sheepherders) are stacked alongside the famous four-ingredient, knotted loaves of Altamura – said to have a shelf life of up to two weeks. Puglia, which lays claim to some 100 varieties of bread, didn’t get its nickname “the breadbasket of Italy” for nothing.

CLASSIC DISHES

1. FOCACCIA The key ingredient to Puglian focaccia is the humble spud – mashed to yield a softer and denser texture. This delicious version uses juicy plum tomatoes from a farmer-friend, lashings of olive oil, fresh oregano and olives.

2. SPUMONI A popular edible gift from dinner guests to their host, this traditional, layered ice cream hails from southern Italy.

Grecian-influenced Puglian desserts and pastries are often sweetened with honey and candied fruit.

3. CROSTATA DI RICOTTA The secret to this lattice-topped ricotta cheesecake, Teresa tells me, is using the freshest sheep milk you can get your hands on.

Another locally produced cheese worth trying is Manteca (a Puglian invention), made from stretched curd filled with a ball of butter.

4. POSOLE NERE Nolca or an equivalent variety of sweet black olives are seasoned with garlic and a pinch of chilli, before being fried in a splash of olive oil.

Emirates serves four destinations in Italy – Rome, Milan, Venice and Bologna.

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Experience Polynesia in the heart of Dubai Parks and Resorts Step into an exciting world of curiosity with an unforgettable stay at Lapita, a unique gateway to the endless fun and enjoyment on offer at Dubai Parks and Resorts.

Create moments to treasure with friends and family and stay in Polynesian inspired rooms with theme park access, bond over a meal at incredible restaurants and unwind at the lazy river and Ola Spa. Exactly like nothing else.

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BRIEFING

NEWS • INSIDE EMIRATES • DESTINATION • UAE SMART GATE • VISA • ROUTE MAP • FLEET

EXPLORE THE UAE The return of My Emirates Pass means exclusive offers and discounts across the UAE.

Turn over for more news from Emirates

OPEN SKIES / 69

NEWS

Maximise your Miles with Emirates

Daily route to Edinburgh

EMIRATES SKYWARDS HAS MADE IT easier to redeem reward flights and earn travel and lifestyle rewards by giving members more flexibility in managing their Skywards Miles.

Members of Emirates’ award-winning loyalty programme can now buy, gift or transfer Miles to their loved ones at a more attractive rate.

The cost of buying or gifting Miles has been adjusted to US$30 per 1,000 Miles, while transferring Miles costs US$15 per 1,000 Miles, giving members the opportunity to earn rewards faster.

Transaction limits have been increased,

enabling members to buy or gift up to 100,000 Skywards Miles per year and transfer up to 50,000 Miles per year.

In addition, the programme now enables members to reinstate expired Miles, with those having Miles that have expired in the last six months able to reinstate them at a nominal charge of US$20 per 1,000 Miles.

“Our members know how to maximise the value that Skywards offers and can now enjoy greater flexibility when they buy, gift, transfer or reinstate their Skywards Miles,” said Dr Nejib Ben Kheder, Senior Vice President, Emirates Skywards.

*local terms and conditions apply

Explore the UAE for less with My Emirates Pass EMIRATES IS OFFERING customers flying to or through Dubai between June 1 and August 31 even more reasons to explore thanks to the return of its signature pass this summer. My Emirates Pass turns your Emirates boarding pass into an exclusive membership card, giving you offers and discounts throughout the UAE. Visitors to Dubai can use My Emirates Pass to enjoy world-class dining options, luxury spas and thrilling attractions, including Dubai Parks and Resorts which features three theme 70 / OPEN SKIES

parks: Bollywood Parks™ Dubai, MOTIONGATE™ Dubai, as well as the region’s first LEGOLAND® Park and LEGOLAND® Water Park. This year, for the first time ever, retail outlets are included too, offering special discounts at selected fashion and fitness brands.

To take advantage of a range of offers at some of Dubai’s best known hotspots, all you need to do is show your Emirates boarding pass* and a valid form of identification.

Head to emirates.com/myemiratespass to see all offers.

EMIRATES IS TO COMMENCE a daily service between Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh, and Dubai, from October 1.

The city will become Emirates’ second destination in Scotland after Glasgow and its eighth in the United Kingdom after the airline begins its daily service to London Stansted from June 8.

The new service will be operated by an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER in a three-class cabin configuration, with eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 304 spacious seats in Economy Class.

“Edinburgh is a very popular leisure and business destination, and the new service will offer our customers from across our global network, particularly from key inbound markets such as Asia and Australia, a direct option to the city via our Dubai hub,” said Hubert Frach, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, West.

NEWS

Home Check-in now available with Emirates EMIRATES HAS INTRODUCED Home Check-in, a new service which allows customers to check in for their flights from anywhere in Dubai. The service is available for customers across all classes travelling on Emirates flights.

The service enables Emirates passengers to complete the security check and check-in from the comfort of their home, hotel or office and have their luggage transported to the airport prior to their flight.

An Emirates check-in agent will arrive at the preferred location to weigh and tag the bags as well as check-in the customers and issue boarding passes.

Customers can then make their own way to the airport and head directly to

Steady growth for Emirates THE EMIRATES GROUP HAS ANNOUNCED its 30th consecutive year of profit and steady business expansion.

In its 2017-2018 Annual Report, the Group posted a profit of US$1.1 billion for the financial year ended March 31 2018, up 67 per cent from last year.

The group’s revenue reached US$27.9 billion, an increase of 8 per cent over last year’s results, and the group’s cash balance increased by 33 per cent to US$6.9 billion supported by the bond issued in March and strong sales due to the early Easter holidays at the end of March.

In line with the overall profit, the group declared a dividend of US$545 million to the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

The full 2017-18 Annual Report of the Emirates Group – comprising Emirates, dnata and their subsidiaries – is available at: theemiratesgroup.com/annualreport.

immigration, bypassing the check-in desks at the airport.

The service is available for approximately US$95 per trip for up to seven pieces of luggage, and US$9.50

will be charged for each additional piece of luggage.

Customers can book the service on emirates.com/home-check-in up to 12 hours before flight departure time.

Redeem rewards with My Family on Emirates Skywards

given greater value, choice and flexibility at every touchpoint across the Emirates Skywards programme,” said Dr Nejib Ben Kheder, Senior Vice President, Emirates Skywards. “The new enriched ‘My Family’ programme will provide our members with a better, more intuitive customer experience, allowing them to consolidate up to 100 per cent of Skywards Miles earned on Emirates to reap faster rewards as well as tailor the proposition to meet their travel needs.”

‘My Family’ is part of the continued evolution of the Emirates Skywards programme to introduce more features, giving members greater opportunity than ever to earn Miles and access rewards across its wide range of flights, travel and lifestyle partners.

EMIRATES SKYWARDS HAS REVAMPED its family offering to provide a richer, more rewarding programme called ‘My Family’. Family members can now pool up to 100 per cent of Skywards Miles earned on Emirates flights, allowing them to redeem rewards faster than before.

The nominated contribution of Miles from each member can be adjusted at any time and all Emirates Skywards members are eligible to join.

“We’re always working to enhance our offerings to ensure our members are

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Fun for all the family How Emirates takes the stress and strain out of travelling with a young family, and turns it into an unforgettable adventure

HOME CHECK-IN

This great new service allows customers to check in for their flight from anywhere in Dubai and is available for customers across all classes on Emirates. Customers can complete the security check and check-in from the comfort of their home, hotel or office and have their luggage transported to the airport prior to their flight. An Emirates check-in agent will arrive at the preferred location to weigh and tag the bags as well as check in the customers and issue boarding passes. Customers then make their own way to the airport and head directly to immigration, bypassing the check-in desks at the airport.

DUBAI LOUNGES

(FIRST CLASS AND BUSINESS CLASS)

Even before the flight departs, our young flyers are kept busy with dedicated kids’ areas in the lounges in Dubai. Both the First Class and Business Class lounges have play areas, with adequate seating for parents to supervise their children. These play areas offer plenty of entertainment and exciting interactive games that are suitable for kids up to older teens.

UNACCOMPANIED MINORS SERVICE

Parents whose children are travelling alone can be assured of a smooth and stress-free journey from start to finish with Emirates’ friendly and helpful staff. The unaccompanied minors service is available for children from five to under 15 years travelling alone, or children under eight years of age travelling in a different cabin class from their parents.

This service has to be booked in advance and includes separate check-in facilities, dedicated staff to accompany the young traveller throughout the journey, and a dedicated lounge with toys and entertainment.

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EVERYTHING FOR CHILDREN AND INFANTS

Emirates works hard to cater for young families on board, offering priority boarding for those with small children, special fares for children aged two to 11, 10kg free baggage allowance for infants not occupying a seat, and a whole host of essential equipment. Whether you require baby kits, bassinets, nappies and baby change tables, or baby bottles, milk formula, food (and food/bottle heating services), Emirates has you covered. There’s even a ‘stroller’ delivery service for parents with babies in Dubai, provided immediately after disembarking.

INSIDE EMIRATES

EMIRATES ‘FLY WITH ME ANIMALS’

Pre-school children can collect a range of four original characters from the Emirates ‘Fly With Me Animals’ collection.

Each with their own personalities and traits, they’re ideal companions for a flight and beyond. In August, we’re bringing back four of the older animals which will be on board for a year.

The latest collection includes: Brett the bear from North America, Mia the Manta Ray from tropical and subtropical waters all around the world, Chao Chao the Chinese alligator and Savannah the elephant from sub-Saharan Africa. You’ll also find a fun and colourful magazine, Fly With Me Animals, produced exclusively for Emirates’ young flyers aged three to eight.

EMIRATES ‘FLY WITH ME’ AND LONELY PLANET KIDS

Emirates has teamed up with the travel experts at Lonely Planet Kids to create packs that inspire older children to explore more of the world. The Emirates ‘Fly With Me’ and Lonely Planet Kids products come in four variations – two specially designed retro-style rucksacks and two lunch coolers.

Each bag features different content to encourage a sense of adventure in young travellers, including fold-out world maps, travel journals, cards with world facts and various educational books that are exclusive to Emirates.

BOOST MILES WITH MY FAMILY

When it comes to building your Miles, Emirates Skywards has revamped its family offering to provide a richer, more rewarding programme called ‘My Family’. This means that family members can now pool up to 100 per cent of Skywards Miles earned on Emirates flights, allowing them to redeem rewards faster than before. All Emirates Skywards members are eligible to join and each family account can have up to eight family members – including a nominated Family Head.

Visit emirates.com/Skywards for more.

A HOST OF ENTERTAINMENT ON ICE

Emirates offers a wide variety of children’s programming, with up to 150 channels of dedicated kids’ entertainment – from Disney to Cartoon Network, CBeebies to Nickelodeon – to keep young fliers occupied. For slightly older travellers, there’s even a dedicated Marvel folder including: Ant-Man, Marvel’s The Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Thor and Thor: The Dark World. For young music fans Emirates offers a great selection with hundreds of channels available, while gamers can expect more than 100 titles (depending on aircraft type).

EMIRATES SKYWARDS SKYSURFERS

This is our frequent flyer programme for young travellers aged two to 16. Emirates Skywards Skysurfers have their own membership card, earn Miles when they travel and move up through the tiers just like Emirates Skywards members. They can spend their Miles on treats like flights, toys, fun-filled day trips and more. Visit skysurfers.com for more.

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SANTIAGO Emirates will operate a five-times weekly service to Santiago via São Paulo from July 5, so enjoy our guide to this exciting capital city

SANTIAGO IS ON THE CUSP OF A RENAISSANCE. It may not have the beaches of Rio de Janeiro or the faded grandeur of Buenos Aires, but that hasn’t stopped this city at the heart of Chile’s vast Central Valley from becoming an increasingly vibrant capital.

Spurred on by the country’s standing as South America’s most stable and prosperous nation, Santiago’s economy is on the up, its arts scene is booming, and a new sense of energy has engulfed this sprawling and sometimes untidy metropolis.

Located between the Chilean Coastal Range and the Andes Mountains, as spectacular locations go it takes some beating.

Grand buildings, museums, a blossoming culinary scene, and a perfect blend of neo-Baroque architecture and glass skyscrapers epitomise the newfound confidence of a city originally founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia in 1541.

Now a city of over six million people (almost 40 per cent of the country’s population), it’s easy to see why Santiago is being added to global travel plans. There’s Bellas Artes and Lastarria, two fashionable neighbourhoods now lined with cafes and designer boutiques; the barrios of Brasil and Yungay, at the vanguard of Santiago’s young bohemian explosion; and Bellavista, the city’s premier nightlife area. At the centre of it all are the skyscrapers of the city’s financial centre.

As Chile celebrates its 200th birthday this year, there’s no better time to experience a city filled with newfound confidence and wealth.

Flight EK263 will depart Dubai on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturday and Sundays at 09:05 local time, arriving in Sao Paulo at 17:00, before departing again at 18:30 and arriving into Santiago at 21:40 on the same day. The return flight EK264 will depart Santiago on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturday and Sundays at 01:10 local time, arriving in Sao Paulo at 05:55.

EK264 will depart once again from Sao Paulo at 07:45 bound for Dubai where it will arrive at 05:15 the next day.

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Born out of a desire to provide gastronomic space for the flavours, techniques and emotions of Chilean cuisine, Silabario opened just over a year ago and is tucked away in an old residential mansion in Barrio Italia. Expect seasonal ingredients and dishes from Chile’s indigenous Mapuche population.

A culinary excursion by chef Carolina Bazán, who worked at Gregory Marchand’s acclaimed Parisian bistro Frenchie prior to starting her own thing, Ambrosía combines French flair with Chilean produce and offers some standout dishes such as wagyu rib cap with delicious creamy Gorgonzola purée.

With just 40 seats and only a 12-course set meal on offer, Restaurante 040 has become something of a destination in Santiago. Founded by Spanish chef Sergio Barroso, be prepared for inventive and accomplished dishes such as sea urchin served in the shell with coconut milk foam and pickled red onions.

THE SINGULAR

NOI VITACURA

HOTEL MAGNOLIA

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Buried deep in the heart of Barrio Lastarria is this bold and impressive five-star hotel with a rooftop bar, deck and pool that’s the envy of the city. Located at the artistic heart of Santiago, it features a spa and wellness centre and is just a five-minute walk from Cerro Santa Lucia hilltop park.

CERRO SAN CRISTÓBAL

For the best views of Santiago and its mountain ranges, head to Cerro San Cristóbal, a 722-hectare park and the city’s largest open space. It’s a strenuous business, so a funicular carries you between different sections on one side, while a cable car makes life easier on the other.

Something of a modern architecture lover’s dream, this is housed in one of the city’s most striking buildings, its stunning 10-storey façade of pine latticework wrapped around glass and steel.

Found in Santiago’s exclusive Vitacura neighbourhood, it also offers striking views of the Andes.

It took two years to meticulously renovate a 1920s heritage building and turn it into the magnificent boutique hotel that it is today. Opened in 2016 and situated in El Centro, the hotel is a fusion of the city’s past and present, with reconstructed stainedglass windows and 42 smart, individually sized rooms.

CENTRO GABRIELA MISTRAL

MUSEO DE LA MODA

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Named after the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral, this cultural centre was turned into a political centre after the coup of 1973, then housed the Ministry of Defence. It was partially destroyed by fire in 2006 and is now devoted to the promotion of performing arts and music in the city.

Quirky and stylish, this fashion museum is home to everything from Madonna’s John Paul Gaultierdesigned conical bra to one of John Lennon’s jackets.

Opened in 2007, the collection consists of more than 17,000 heritage pieces and is a fascinating look at contemporary western culture.

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Be Smart!

Use UAE Smart Gate at Dubai International Airport Citizens of the countries listed on the right and UAE residents can speed through Dubai International by using UAE Smart Gate.

If you hold a machine-readable passport, an E-Gate card or Emirates ID card you can check in and out of the airport within seconds.

Just look out for signs that will direct you to the many UAE Smart Gates found on either side of the Immigration Hall at Dubai International Airport.

Using UAE Smart Gate is easy

1

Have your machine-readable passport, E-Gate card or Emirates ID card ready to be scanned.

2

Place your passport photo page on the scanner. If you are a UAE resident, place your E-Gate card or Emirates ID card into the card slot.

OK!

3

NATIONALITIES THAT CAN USE UAE SMART GATES

UAE SMART GUIDE

Go through the open gate, stand on the blue footprint guide on the floor, face the camera straight-on and stand still for your iris scan. When finished, the next set of gates will open and you can continue to baggage claim.

REGISTERING FOR UAE SMART GATE IS EASY

To register for Smart Gate access, just spend a few moments having your details validated by an immigration officer and that’s it. Every time you fly to Dubai in future, you will be out of the airport and on your way just minutes after you have landed.

IF YOU’RE A UAE RESIDENT

Remember to bring your Emirates ID card next time you’re travelling through DXB – you’ll be able to speed through passport control in a matter of seconds, without paying and without registering. Valid at all Smart Gates, located in Arrivals and Departures, across all three terminals at DXB. 76 / OPEN SKIES

*UK citizens only (UK overseas citizens still require a visa)

UAE SMART GATE CAN BE USED BY: •

Machine-readable passports from the above countries • •

E-Gate cards

Emirates ID cards

VISA GUIDE

Guide to US customs & immigration Whether you’re travelling to, or through, the United States today, this simple guide to completing the US customs form will help to ensure that your journey is as hassle-free as possible.

Customs Declaration Form

All passengers arriving into the US need to complete a Customs Declaration Form. If you are travelling as a family this should be completed by one member only. The form must be completed in English, in capital letters, and must be signed where indicated.

ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR TRAVEL AUTHORISATION (ESTA) If you are an international traveller wishing to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, you must apply for electronic authorisation up to 72 hours prior to your departure.

ESTA FACTS: Children and infants require an individual ESTA. The online ESTA system will inform you whether your application has been authorised, denied or if authorisation is pending.

A successful ESTA application is valid for two years. However, this may be revoked or will expire along with your passport.

APPLY ONLINE AT WWW.CBP.GOV/ESTA NATIONALITIES ELIGIBLE FOR THE VISA WAIVER*: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom**

* **

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Subject to change Only British Citizens qualify under the Visa Waiver Program.

UAE SMART GUIDE

Comfort in the air

To help you arrive at your destination feeling relaxed and refreshed, Emirates has developed this collection of helpful travel tips. Regardless of whether you need to rejuvenate for your holiday or be effective at achieving your goals on a business trip, these simple tips will help you enjoy your journey and time on board with Emirates today.

Smart Traveller DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

Rehydrate with water or juices. Drink tea and coffee in moderation.

TRAVEL LIGHTLY

Carry only the essential items that you will need during your flight.

WEAR GLASSES

Cabin air is drier than normal, so swap contact lenses for glasses.

USE SKIN MOISTURISER

BEFORE YOUR JOURNEY

Consult your doctor before travelling if you have any medical concerns about travelling, or if you suffer from a respiratory or cardiovascular condition.

Plan for the destination – will you need any vaccinations or special medications?

Get a good night’s rest before the flight.

Eat lightly and sensibly.

AT THE AIRPORT

Allow yourself plenty of time for comfortable check-in.

Avoid carrying heavy bags through the airport and onto the flight as this can place the body under stress.

Once through to departures, try and relax as much as possible.

Apply a good-quality moisturiser to ensure your skin doesn’t dry out.

DURING THE FLIGHT KEEP MOVING

Exercise your lower legs and calf muscles. This encourages blood flow.

MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE

Loosen clothing, remove jacket and avoid anything pressing against your body.

Chewing and swallowing will help equalise your ear pressure during ascent and descent.

Babies and young passengers may suffer more acutely with popping ears, therefore consider providing a dummy.

Get as comfortable as possible when resting and turn frequently.

Avoid sleeping for long periods in the same position.

SHARPS BOXES

Sharps boxes are available on board all Emirates flights for safe disposal of medical equipment.

Ask a member of your cabin crew for more information.

WHEN YOU ARRIVE

Try some light exercise, or read if you can’t sleep after arrival.

Quarantine Rules to follow on arrival AUSTRALIA Australia has strict biosecurity laws, so when you arrive you’ll need to declare certain food, plant or animal items on your Incoming Passenger Card.

You also need to declare equipment or shoes used in rivers and lakes or with soil attached. All aircraft food must be left on board. Please take care when completing your Incoming Passenger Card – it's a legal document and false declarations may result in a penalty.

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JAPAN Japan has strict rules around exposure to livestock and bringing in livestock items.

You will need to go to the Animal Quarantine Counter if you have recently been to a livestock farm; are bringing livestock products into Japan; or if your visit to Japan will involve contact with livestock. If you’re bringing meat and livestock products into Japan without an import certificate, head to the counter in baggage claim to speak with the animal quarantine officer.

NEW ROUTES

Routes shown are as of time of going to press

GLOBAL ROUTES

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Emirates Newark: non-stop daily service starts June 1 London Stansted: daily service starts June 8 Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen: daily service resumes June 8 Santiago: five times weekly service via São Paulo starts July 5 Edinburgh: daily service starts October 1 flydubai Catania: daily service starts June 13 Qabala: four times weekly service starts June 14 Kutaisi: three times weekly service starts June 14 Thessaloniki: three times weekly service starts June 15 Batumi: daily service starts June 16 Helsinki: daily service starts October 11

KEY Emirates flydubai

ROUTE MAP

TRAVEL TO ADDITIONAL DESTINATIONS WITH OUR CODESHARE PARTNERS

Visit emirates.com for full details on our travel partners

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*Suspended

With 22 codeshare partners in 25 countries (21 airlines and an air/ rail codeshare arrangement with France’s SNCF/TGV Air), Emirates has even more flight options, effectively expanding its network by over 300 destinations.

Routes shown are as of time of going to press

*Suspended

KEY

Emirates

flydubai

MIDDLE EAST AFRICA

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ROUTE MAP

ASIA & PACIFIC EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA

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ROUTE MAP

AMERICAS KEY

Routes shown are as of time of going to press

Freighter destinations

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EMIRATES SKYCARGO

INTERNATIONALLY ACCREDITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES AT YOUR DOORSTEP MEDICLINIC MIDDLE EAST OPERATES SIX HOSPITALS, OVER 20 CLINICS AND MORE THAN 700 INPATIENT BEDS ACROSS DUBAI, ABU DHABI, AL AIN AND THE WESTERN REGION.

EXPERTISE YOU CAN TRUST. A MEDICLINIC INTERNATIONAL COMPANY www.mediclinic.ae MOH MH52817-30.9.18

Emirates Fleet

Our fleet of 271 aircraft includes 258 passenger aircraft and 13 SkyCargo aircraft

This month:

AIRBUS A380-800

1 arriving

105 IN FLEET All aircraft

up to 3,500+

Up to 489-615 passengers. Range: 15,000km. L 72.7m x W 79.8m

20+ aircraft

BOEING 777-300ER 139 IN FLEET

This month:

1 arriving

All aircraft up to 3,500+

100+ aircraft

Up to 354-428 passengers. Range: 14,594km. L 73.9m x W 64.8m

BOEING 777-200LR For more information: emirates.com/ourfleet

10 IN FLEET All aircraft

3,000+

Up to 266-302 passengers. Range: 17,446km. L 63.7m x W 64.8m

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FLEET

HERE’S WHAT CONNECTIVITY, ENTERTAINMENT AND SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE ON BOARD EACH AIRCRAFT TYPE

Live TV, news & sport

Wi-Fi

Mobile phone

Data roaming

Number of channels

First Class Shower Spa

*Onboard lounge

**In-seat power

USB port

In-seat telephone

* First Class and Business Class; **Available in all rows in Economy Class, and in all seats in First Class and Business Class

BOEING 777-300

3 IN FLEET All aircraft

1,900+

Up to 364 passengers. Range: 11,029km. L 73.9m x W 60.9m

AIRBUS A319

1 IN FLEET

The Emirates Executive Private Jet takes our exceptional service to the highest level to fly you personally around the world. Fly up to 19 guests in the utmost comfort of our customised A319 aircraft with the flexibility of private jet travel. Further information at emirates-executive.com

EMIRATES SKYCARGO BOEING 777F 13 IN FLEET

Range: 9,260km. L 63.7m x W 64.8m

The most environmentally-friendly freighter operated today, with the lowest fuel burn of any comparably-sized cargo aircraft. Along with its wide main-deck cargo door, which can accommodate oversized consignments, it is also capable of carrying up to 103 tonnes of cargo non-stop on 10-hour sector lengths.

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Aircraft numbers accurate at the time of going to press

Up to 19 passengers. Range: 7,000km. L 33.84m x W 34.1m

CELEBRITY DIRECTIONS

Tom Hardy’s

GUIDE TO LONDON

Each month, the great and the good curate a travel itinerary exclusively for Open Skies. This month, Tom Hardy on his favourite city in the world INTERVIEW: Andrew Nagy

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LONDON

51.5074° N

If you’d like to avoid the usual tourist sites in London, I’d really recommend Richmond Park. This is a special place for me, and it’s not far from the centre, really. In the summer it’s a great place to spend some time walking.

I honestly couldn’t name my number one place in the city, but I just think that’s why London is my favourite destination in the world.

There’s so much to do and see there.

I genuinely think that London has the best selection of restaurants in the world, but that said, there is a great British tradition of eating kebabs. Now I need to make it clear that this is not where you go for dinner, this is not a gourmet option, but rather where you go at the very end of a night out. If you want me to get specific, then Pala Kebab in South West London make the best donner kebab and the meanest chilli sauce you can find.

If you’re having a day shopping but want to avoid the crowds on Oxford Street, then Jermyn Street is a favourite of mine – its stores are quintessentially British and you’ll find the best tailoring in London. I’m personally a big fan of the Alfred Dunhill store.

If I’m having a night out in London, I will always check into the Soho Hotel, which is such a great place. After dinner, I usually head to The Groucho Club. It’s a private club, but if you can get in then I highly recommend it.

The next day, drink copious amounts of Monmouth coffee in the fresh air at Richmond Park or Hyde Park – they’re such beautiful places.

If you’re in London with family, I don’t need to tell you all the usual big family attractions – they’re known across the world – but if you want to do something different and worthwhile then why not take your kids to Battersea Dogs Home.

Finally, some advice you might not get in the other guidebooks: Come at Christmas. London in December is just amazing.

THE DETAILS WALK Richmond Park GUILTY PLEASURE Pala Kebab

SHOP Jermyn Street EVENING OUT The Groucho Club

WORTHWHILE Battersea Dogs Home VISIT At Christmas time

When Emirates starts its daily service to London Stansted this month on June 8, it will become the airline’s seventh destination in the UK. This is set to grow to eight UK destinations with the launch of daily flights to Edinburgh on October 1.

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LONDON

First Class Pack Business Class Pack 10GB & 1000 mins for AED 1,000 5GB & 500 mins for AED 600

Economy Class Pack 2GB & 60 mins for AED 350

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