Open Skies February 2019

FEBRUARY 2019

C U LT O F T H E S U P E R C A R How Dubai became a magnet for automotive passion

THE GREATEST STARGAZING ON EARTH GOOD MORNING, MR MANDELA

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OBAID HUMAID AL TAYER

EDITOR GEORGINA LAVERS georgina.lavers@motivate.ae

DIGITAL ANIMATOR

SURAJIT DUTTA surajit@motivate.ae

MANAGING PARTNER & GROUP EDITOR

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR

SENIOR WEB DEVELOPER

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

PICTURE DESK

IAN FAIRSERVICE

OLGA PETROFF olga.petroff@motivate.ae

LONDRESA FLORES londresa@motivate.ae

GINA JOHNSON gina@motivate.ae

FIROZ KALADI firoz@motivate.ae

ART DIRECTOR

CLARKWIN CRUZ clarkwin@motivate.ae

AARTI SAUNDALKAR aarti@motivate.ae

CONTRIBUTORS Mitch Blunt; Emma Coiler; Laura Coughlin; James Davison; Ben East; Sarah Freeman; Sarah Gamboni; Jess Holland; Caroline Howley; Dom Joly; Conor Purcell; Mark Parren Taylor; Mark Russell; Yosigo Front cover photography: Robert Bova

GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION SUNIL KUMAR sunil@motivate.ae

PRODUCTION MANAGER

R MURALI KRISHNAN muralik@motivate.ae

CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER ANTHONY MILNE anthony@motivate.ae

GROUP SALES MANAGER

MICHAEL UNDERDOWN michael@motivate.ae

SENIOR SALES MANAGER

ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER

MURALI NARAYANAN murali@motivate.ae

BINU PURANDARAN binu@motivate.ae

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS FOR EMIRATES

EDITOR

MANNA TALIB

DEPUTY EDITOR

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.

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Printed by Emirates Printing Press, Dubai, UAE

WHERE DREAMS LIVE AND EMOTIONS ARE BORN

SOMMETOUTE - fusiodesign.com

FROM DREAMS & INSPIRATION SPRINGS THE ROYAL MANSOUR From the exquisite mosaics adorning its palatial interiors to the mesmerising murmur of the fountains in the courtyards, the Royal Mansour reflects the beauty, grace and indeed, the very soul of Morocco. A first glimpse of this sensual luxury makes the heart beat faster, awakening the senses. But the true relaxation offered by this paradise in the centre of bustling Marrakech can only be experienced by a stay amidst the elegant tranquillity and attention to detail of the Royal Mansour. You and those you love will leave refreshed in mind, body and spirit.

TEL.+212 (0) 529 80 80 80

www.royalmansour.com

CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2019

52 DUBAI

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GLOBAL

EMIRATES

Yosigo’s Dubai A different side to the emirate 52

On the open road One country’s obsession with the automobile 60

Expo 2020 An innovation generation 66

Experience 16 Stay: From a 19th-century law firm in New York to a Viennese palace 18 Dom Joly is home-bound 24 Dispatch: A Laos dairy revolution 26 Neighbourhood: Bern, Switzerland 32 A televised revolution 40 New Zealand’s award-winning stars 46

Latest news 72 Inside Emirates 76 Destination: Johannesburg 78 UAE Smart Gate 80 Route maps 82 The fleet 88 Celebrity directions: A Star is Born: The producer’s LA guide 90

Zelda La Grange Good Morning, Mr Mandela

68

Enamelled Jewellery Ornament, India, Jaipur, 12th – 13th century AH/ 18th – 19th century AD

Visit this beautiful gold-domed building, which was transformed from a traditional covered market to a museum in 2008. Learn about Islamic faith and science and examine over 5,000 exquisite artefacts and rare manuscripts from the Islamic world.

Museum hours Saturday to Thursday 8:00 am – 8:00 pm Friday 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm For Enquiries: +971 6 565 5455

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EDITOR’S NOTE TRANSFORMERS

FOLLOW US facebook.com/ openskiesmag twitter.com/ openskiesmag instagram.com/ openskiesmag

It’s the classic cliché from the Middle East. Rows of supercars so luridly shiny they could be toys, idling on Knightsbridge’s Brompton Road.

Every summer the cars appear, flown over on freighter planes (some of them Emirates), and every summer the resulting headlines appear – both awestruck, and curious.

This enthusiasm for the automobile is distinctly Dubai, and the city is not only embracing luxury stalwarts like Bugatti or Lamborghini.

Homegrown supercars are starting to make waves both in the region and internationally, as well as a fascination with classic cars and provenance. Slower to gain traction but still significant are vehicles with a more eco-conscious slant – with a “soft” target in place for 10 per cent of all vehicles in the city to be electric by 2030 (as well as a cautious uptick of Tesla sales).

A decidedly furrier form of transport is being revolutionised on p26 – the buffalo. The relationship between man and beast across Southeast Asia is more than just transactional; farmers develop strong bonds with their animals, often owning just one due to their high cost. It was with trepidation that they leased them out to a dairy farm owned by expats in Laos, the first of its kind. Yet the changeup in career has proved fruitful. Farmers can earn more from their buffalo through passive investment; often a month’s salary at a time.

Children often suffer from malnutrition in the region; schemes are in place to encourage dairy consumption to combat this.

More generally, the region has been earmarked by industry analysts as the most important area for dairy trade. And for tourists? A fluffy ricotta cake with rich ice-cream, taken on a veranda where buffalo graze quietly just feet away, is enough to satisfy.

Georgina Lavers, Editor

Ronald Codrai © Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi

DISCOVER T H E S TO R I E S O F O U R N AT I O N ’ S P R O U D PA S T.

ABU DHABI’S LEGACY AND HISTORY. Qasr Al Hosn is the oldest and most significant building in Abu Dhabi. It includes the city’s first permanent structure, a coral and sea stone watch tower built to protect the settlement of Abu Dhabi established on the island in the 1760s. Qasr Al Hosn became home to the ruling family, a seat of government, and it now stands as our nation’s living monument, telling the story of Abu Dhabi and its people.

Learn more at qasralhosn.ae

Global EXPERIENCE

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Viennese elegance Head to the ritzy Ringstrasse Boulevard for a palatial stay in Vienna. p.20

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STARGAZING

16 / GLOBAL / EXPERIENCE

The Plan EVENTS TO AIM FOR THIS MONTH THE UAE TOUR, FEBRUARY 24 - MARCH 2

FIVE MINUTES WITH:

Alexander Kristoff The Norwegian cyclist won the prestigious final stage of The Tour de France last year – now, the UAE Team Emirates sprinter kicks off 2019 hoping for success in a brand new UAE Tour, starting in Abu Dhabi and ending in Dubai You won a stage in the Abu Dhabi Tour last year, and you’ve won eight times in Oman. What is it you like about racing in the Middle East?

It was a really great experience last year, not just because I won the opening stage!

The racing is organised so well, the hotels and the weather are great, and now because it’s a week-long race across the UAE it’s much more hilly than before.

It’s going to be a cool tour this year for everyone – riders, fans and viewers too.

Is it a tour you think you can win overall, or will you just try and take the flatter sprint stages?

I will go for the sprints, but it will be very hard for me to win overall as there are at least two mountain stages. But we will have other riders on our team who will be going for the general classification jersey. The beauty of cycling is that there

is always a stage for someone.

What will being part of a UAE team riding around the UAE mean to you?

We’ve really been preparing hard for this one. We know how much it would mean to everyone in the UAE to win, and also what it would mean for cycling in the Emirates.

There are obviously some higher profile races as the season goes on, like the Tour de France. But is the UAE Tour a good chance to test your legs?

Absolutely. If you do well here it can set you up for the season; a win is always nice and would give me great confidence going into the Spring Classics [the famous one-day races in Italy, Belgium, France and Netherlands]. You can also see how all your rivals are getting on and test yourself against them, so it’s important for your mind as well as your legs. But the young guys always seem to get faster!

You’ve won some big races, but crossing the finish line first on the ChampsÉlysées must be one of your best moments on a bike?

I’ll always remember it. It’s such an iconic stage and probably the most famous for general sports fans; it transcends cycling. Every year they show who’s won there, so as I get older I’ll always be able to see my victory. I’ll probably get prouder and prouder.

It was a very close finish though. Did you have a moment as you approached the finish line where you thought “I’m going to do this”?

Many of the very fastest sprinters didn’t make it to Paris so I knew I had a big chance. But I had to work really hard and maybe only three metres from the line did I think I would win it. I’ll never forget it.

UAE. theuaetour.com The UAE Tour will act as a home race for the Emirates team

FEBRUARY 1-2

CAPE TOWN 10S A sporting festival with a difference, Cape Town 10s was formed in 2008 as the biggest ten-a-side rugby tournament in the world.

Anyone could enter – from ex-pros to regular fans of the sport. It’s since expanded to become a huge social event drawing people from all over the planet, with sports like beach volleyball, football, hockey, running and esports. Meanwhile, 18 live music acts entertain 4,000 players and 25,000 fans over the weekend. Cape Town, South Africa. capetown.10s.co.za

FEBRUARY 5

FEBRUARY 25

FEBRUARY 25-28

CHINESE NEW YEAR

THE ACADEMY AWARDS

MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS

2019 is the Year of The Pig in the Chinese zodiac – a symbol of wealth.

You can mark this positive outlook in almost any major city around the world these days, but Beijing is the place to truly celebrate it. Peking opera, martial arts, acrobatics and dragon dances are a must-see, but don’t expect fireworks – they were banned for the first time last year.

Beijing, China. english.visitbeijing.com

Unless you’re a hotshot in the film industry, you won’t be going to the actual Oscar ceremony. But that’s not to say LA isn’t the place to be to celebrate the best in filmic achievement – there are a plethora of Oscar parties to star-spot at, from modest affairs (by LA standards) right up to the $40,000 Vanity Fair after-party.

Ticket price does not include dress…

Los Angeles, USA. oscars.org

Billed as the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry, MWC19 Barcelona rounds up the latest innovations from leading mobile companies, with this year’s theme centering around new 5G networks. With a programme exploring the biggest issues in communication, the way you’ll connect with the world in five years time will be explored right here.

Barcelona, Spain. mwcbarcelona.com

18 / GLOBAL / WHERE TO STAY

DUBAI

24.8204° N, 56.1354° E

PRICE: FROM US$190 PER NIGHT

The legendary JA Hatta Fort Hotel is a charming resort in the shadow of the UAE’s Hajar Mountains

Head over hills WORDS: LAURA COUGHLIN

Rather like a first date or a job interview, when checking into a hotel, first impressions count for everything. Describing the check-in process at JA Hatta Fort Hotel, the legendary resort near the Oman border, is easy; it feels like coming home. Guests are greeted with a smile from the bellman, then swept through the lobby and up to the newly-refurnished chalet-style rooms – a treat after a long flight.

UAE veterans wax lyrical about JA Hatta Fort Hotel, and for good reason. It has that old-school charm that warms the soul. Service is friendly and beautifully effortless, especially in the hotel’s main restaurant Jeema, which serves international cuisine in a buffet that changes daily.

The enormous, open-plan rooms are inspired by natural elements, with exposed stone and linen creating a sense of calm and

earthliness. To honour the picturesque setting, every room, suites and villas feature balconies with views across surrounding gardens and stony peaks.

Part of the charm of Hatta lies outside of the resort and within these views. Described as ‘the jewel in the crown of the UAE’, the exclave is home to dramatic landscapes, turquoise waterways and a myriad of lush greenery – it would be a crime not to explore the surroundings during your stay. Visitors can hire kayaks to explore the Hatta Reservoir, hike to a mountain peak or take on the thrilling bike trails that traverse across the rocky landscape.

After a full day exploring the outdoors, the Sunset Terrace is a welcome spot that seems as if it were made for sundowners.

Watch as the sun disappears behind the rugged horizon, toasting to a day well spent.

NEIGHBOURHOOD The drive to JA Hatta Fort Hotel is a scenic 130km (or about an hour-and-a-half’s drive) of rolling desert dunes that lead to the dramatic Hajar Mountain range. Aside from the activities available within the resort itself, Hatta offers many popular tourist attractions such as the oldest preserved heritage village in the UAE, the Hatta Reservoir and many opportunities to connect with nature along the way, passing farmland, natural pools, and hidden oases.

DUBAI

Planning a visit to Dubai?

Press the “i” button on your screen to discover more about Dubai’s attractions, shopping, dining and events.

S H A R JA H L I G H T F E S T I VA L

A JOURNEY OF LIGHTS Embark on a journey of lights, colors and music as 20 internationally renowned artists paint Sharjah’s iconic landmarks in a new light.

20 shows daily from 6:00 pm onwards

Organised By

Partner

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Shopping Malls

Media Sponsors

20 / GLOBAL / WHERE TO STAY

VIENNA

48.2082° N, 16.3738° E

PRICE: FROM US$330 PER NIGHT

History runs deep in this old-world grand dame, where everything from the frescoes to the formaggi is on point

Palatial prowess WORDS: SARAH FREEMAN

FROM THE CONCIERGE Running rings around you The same hotel brand that brought you an art and kids concierge can now add running to their impressive list of niche services. Philipp Voigt leads guests on a 5.5km circuit trail around the city’s famed tree-lined Ringstrasse (which marks the original city walls), taking in iconic sites like The State Opera House and The Vienna Observatory.

Brain Food Have your schnitzel prepared the way it was for Freud and Stefan Zweig (pan fried in lard, served with wild cranberries and a potato salad, in case you were wondering) at Meissl and Schadn. You can find this temple to Austria’s favourite dish in the Hotel Ferdinand, a three-minute stroll from the Ritz-Carlton.

A quartet of 19th-century palaces, the Ritz-Carlton Vienna holds its own on the city’s Ringstrasse Boulevard, despite a rollcall of glitzy neighbours. A glorious mélange of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles, its ornate ceilings, grand fireplaces and intricate woodwork vie for your attention.

Heritage highlights include frescoes by German artist Rudolf Eisenmenger and the Palais Gutmann’s sweeping staircase. And then there’s the 2.5 tonnes of Egyptian crystal to behold in its stately ballroom.

There’s no such bling in its 202 guest rooms and 43 suites, which tread the line between classic and contemporary, endowed with marble-clad washrooms, modern artwork and ample space to perfect your Viennese Waltz. Since the hotel occupies an entire block of the Ringstrasse, guests are spoilt with junior suites boasting walk-in closets and 38-square-metre deluxe rooms (some of the city’s largest). Checking into the seventh

floor? Welcome to the club, Vienna’s only luxury Club Lounge that is, which gives guests the full Ritz treatment – think bottomless champers, a private check-in and daily rituals to thrill gourmands, like the apple-strudel ceremony. Suffice to say you won’t go hungry (or thirsty, for that matter).

Some of the city’s best cuts are sizzled to perfection on the ground floor’s charcoal Josper grill at Dstrikt, where diners are presented with not one, but 12 steak knives.

Bringing some dolce vita to the property is Pastamara, the hotel’s newly unveiled Sicilian restaurant. Its slick sidekick, Bar con Cucina, does a solid Negroni and wheels out an aperitif cart at around 5pm every day, loaded with antipasti and formaggi. The libations continue at D-Bar, a cosy den specialising in barrel-aged cocktails, whilst eight floors up, Atmosphere’s rooftop terrace reveals the capital’s snow-dusted spires, their Honey Buttered Rum making for the perfect nightcap.

VIENNA

Emirates operates two daily flights to Vienna. Choose from a daily A380 service and second daily service operated by a Boeing 777300ER.

22 / GLOBAL / WHERE TO STAY

NEW YORK

40.7128° N, 74.0060° W

PRICE: FROM US$299 PER NIGHT

19th-century abode The Beekman transports guests back to old New York – ambience included

An NY conversion WORDS: GEORGINA LAVERS

It’s a Sunday in rainy downtown New York.

“You’d be so nice to come home to,” croons a jazz singer, tucked away in a library lounge, with rain lashing a pyramid skylight. The Beekman may be nine storeys high but at this moment in time, nowhere could feel more intimate.

Originally built in 1881 as a law firm, the Beekman has been converted in a manner that pays respect to its heritage. Revitalised

by Randolph Gerner, the standout feature is undoubtedly the nine-storey Victorian atrium around which hotel rooms are wrapped, as well as ground-floor restaurant and lounge.

Martin Brudnizki tackled the interiors to create a lived-in ambience, with the impression that items have been slowly added to the space over time, rather than a full fit-out. With ‘40s vintage cushions and jade green velvet flung throughout, as well as

reams of books and paintings, the feeling is one of intimate and historic seclusion.

Rooms are similarly kitted out, the vintage bar a particular highlight. The studios are lovely, but those looking for a better view should opt for one of the two penthouses with private terraces.

Guests can eat in French restaurant Augustine or American classics in the temple bar, both headed up by James McBeard winners, a prestigious restaurant award.

At night both come alive, with power brokers, creatives and marketing execs all animatedly discussing their latest projects before heading down to the cellar, open until 4am. Alternatively, you may find a guest tucked away in a booth by the window, immersed in one of the library books and watching pedestrians stride by. See or be seen – the Beekman can do either.

NEIGHBOURHOOD The Brooklyn Bridge, The Woolworth building, One World Trade Centre… Downtown already has several must-sees, and its revitalisation from financial district to tech hub has added a plethora of new options for tourists.

It’s a two-minute walk from the hotel to visit the 9/11 memorial museum, and the Seaport district has undergone a refresh, with international transplants such as Milan’s Corso Como and local designers like Cynthia Rowley mixing with a massive variety of restaurants.

DOWNTOWN

Formerly a 19th-century law firm, the property has retained its heritage features

Emirates operates five daily services to the New York metropolitan area, with three flights daily to New York JFK and two daily services to Newark.

24 / GLOBAL / COLUMN

BRIGHTON 50.8225° N, 0.1372° W

Brighton up your day In a monolithic UK, Brighton’s quirky charms speak to Dom Joly

I normally write about the exotic, far-flung places that my lucky life takes me to. This month I want to talk about what is, to a Brit, a less exotic destination and yet one of my new favourite places on earth. I speak of Brighton (and Hove), the Regency jewel in the English seaside world.

I live in Cheltenham, another beautiful Regency town in the Cotswolds. Over Christmas I had to move to Brighton for a month as I was starring in the new production of The Rocky Horror Show.

This meant avoiding all the stress of a family Christmas by moving into a seafront hotel and being waited upon hand and foot by the wonderful staff of Hotel Du Vin. This was no hardship.

However, it has caused some problems at home as I returned there after Christmas with a bad habit of ringing my wife from the bedroom to demand breakfast and emailing her photographs of how my laundry should now be presented (individually wrapped in muslin and in a wicker basket). This did not go down well, and I was brought back down to earth in no time.

I did also return to my hometown with a slight sense of regret – something I’d never had about the place before. Cheltenham is the sort of place where people will go out of their way to come up to me to tell me that they don’t watch TV and so have no idea who I am. I used to think this was a grounding thing, even something that was good for me. No longer.

Brighton is a town full of like-minded souls – creatives, who adore popular culture and make no excuses about consuming and loving every vacuous element of it.

Weirdly, I used to hate Brighton. I used to equate it with overly-tattooed, pink-haired grebo types wandering around the streets with little dogs on string. This, to some extent is still true. What makes Brighton so special however, is this very independent, punky nature of the city’s inhabitants.

The United Kingdom has become a homogenised society where every high street is dominated by chains making them indistinguishable from each other. Brighton is different. It is packed full of independent coffee shops, restaurant, shops… it is fighting the good fight against global super-brand hegemony and is a fantastic place because of it. It’s only when you spend some time there that you realise how ‘samey’ UK high streets have gotten and how refreshing it is to go somewhere with that homemade feel.

Another equally important reason for loving Brighton is the dog-friendly nature of the place. On my daily walks along the seafront I saw every type of dog in existence (and several I had no idea existed). Restaurants, bars and even hotels are dog-friendly. On my first morning I opened my hotel door to see my neighbour emerge from her room with a large wolfhound.

I fully intend to return there for a month next Christmas. I might even take my two dogs. Just don’t tell my wife and kids…

GLOBAL / DISPATCH / 27

Tapping into a lucrative demand for dairy in Southeast Asia WORDS: CAROLINE HOWLEY

When the falang struck milk in Laos

Buffalo have held vital importance to agricultural practices in SE Asia, from the transportation of crops to the ploughing of fields

Three apprehensive expats surrounded a buffalo in a village outside Luang Prabang, their eyes fixed on the docile beast.

It was 2014, and they had a hunch that a huge resource was going entirely untapped in Laos. Thirty-five villagers – as well as the buffalo’s nervous owner, Mr Eh – had congregated to witness something they’d never seen before. The crazy foreigners were going to milk a buffalo.

The flat-packed Chinese milking machine had been painstakingly assembled and hooked up to the buffalo.

As the crowd held their breath, they switched it on. Nothing happened. A sleepless night followed. But on the second day, although most of the villagers had dispersed, the falang struck milk.

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This ‘Aha’ moment marked the start of a most unusual business venture amongst the teak trees and jagged palms of Laos.

Years earlier, Aussie expat Susie Martin and New York-born chef Rachel O’Shea were holidaying in Sri Lanka, taking a break from the high-flying corporate scene in Singapore. Their shared ardour for cheese led them to a bowl of buffalo curd: a creamy yoghurt with a mellow tang. Yet on a later trip to Luang Prabang, their requests for this curd were met with shrugs. If they wanted curd in Laos, they’d joked, they would have to milk the buffalo themselves.

Skip to 2014 and O’Shea, Martin and her husband Steven McWhirter were raring for adventure. Shrugging off their former careers, they opened a guesthouse in Luang Prabang, having fallen

for its UNESCO-crowned old world ambience. There was a vague notion that hotel ownership could be their next step. But, more than anything, Martin emphasises with a wry chuckle, this move to Laos was supposed to be a year out; their communal “mid-life crisis”.

None of them – even in their most feverish dreams – would have envisioned a future spent running a buffalo dairy in a country where many believe milk comes from fruit.

But in Luang Prabang, buffalo were never far away, and the idea that these unassuming creatures held the key to a brand new industry in Laos blossomed.

After a few hiccups and a successful milking trial, they set about building Laos Buffalo Dairy on the outskirts of Luang Prabang. Vitally, they planned

to rent buffalo from local farmers to deliver an extra income stream for struggling communities. But first they had to convince the farmers.

“Dairy was a completely unknown industry in Laos,” explains Martin, the dairy’s CEO. Sitting in the farm’s bamboo cafe in an Akubra hat and aviators, she regularly breaks off to wave “Sabaidee” (hello) to local children arriving for the English language classes held onsite. “You want to say: ‘It really happens, nearly everywhere else’, but they’re looking at me like I’ve got horns growing out of my head!”

Somehow, they convinced a handful of farmers to lease their buffalo. “Once you have that trust, you don’t want to lose it,” Martin says. “Buffalos are a walking insurance policy here; losing one is

GLOBAL / DISPATCH / 29

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1,5. Some of the produce created using buffalo milk: ricotta cake and Bailey’s ice cream, a cheeseboard with buffalo curd and mozzarella 2. Co-founders Susie Martin, Steven McWhirter and Rachel O’Shea 3. 75-100 buffalo are now leased from local farmers 4,6. Traditional farming practices prevail at the dairy farm

like having your bank account emptied.”

At first, the farm held five buffalos. As farmers saw their peers making money through the scheme, and trust in the dairy grew – or, as Martin puts it, “they didn’t think we were going to barbeque their buffalo any more” – this number rose. There’s currently 75 to 100 buffalo on the farm at any one time, hailing from 200 farms across 20 villages.

Martin admits that developing the dairy’s ethical milking system, which sees individual farmers earn US$100 per buffalo, equivalent to a month’s salary in rural Laos – has been “a learning curve”.

But judging by the cafe’s sumptuous menu, it’s been worth it. O’Shea, the affable head chef, has concocted dreamy recipes: feta, mozzarella, ricotta, and natural yoghurt. There’s cheesecake dripping

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with syrup, and Bailey’s ice cream. The farm sells these luxury products to upscale hotels and restaurants in Luang Prabang and Vientiane. The appeal for dairy-starved tourists is obvious.

The farm is also striving to encourage local dairy consumption. Forty percent of Lao children are malnourished by the age of two. To help tackle this, the dairy is training villagers to milk buffalo and safely consume the milk with rice.

Buffalo milk is calcium-rich, contains 9 per cent fat, and is more palatable for those with lactose intolerance than cow’s milk. “They are starting to have more dairy,” Martin says, “just not in the way you’d expect – not a glass of milk.”

Meanwhile, the dairy’s pioneering cross breeding programme, monthly weight checks, veterinary care, and

training for owners, has undone decades of inbreeding and seen the farm’s average birth weight rise 5kg in three years.

Exports to Asian countries – traditionally dairy-averse – represent a major opportunity for Laos Buffalo Dairy. The farm recently waved off 200kg of cheese to Japan: a triumphant trial immediately followed by a huge order. Susie explains: “Asia has started to get an appetite for dairy.” Exporting from Laos – at the centre of the ASEAN economic community – is about to get easier, too. The US$6 billion Laos-China trainline will stop in Luang Prabang by 2020, and eventually extend as far south as Singapore.

The burgeoning Southeast Asian dairy industry has seemingly tremendous potential. In 2017, industry analyst CLAL dubbed the region – including Chi-

30 / GLOBAL / DISPATCH

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7. Bath time, a favourite activity for the herd 8. Visitors help fund workshops for local farmers on animal care and organic methods for feed production

na and Japan – “the most important area for the trade of dairy products”. Three per cent year-on-year market growth is projected until 2020. According to CLAL research, the region absorbed 41 per cent of the world’s dairy imports in 2017, largely because it can’t produce enough milk to meet demand. In 2016, domestic raw milk production satisfied just 75 per cent of national dairy needs.

“For the next ten years, we believe that the import of dairy products should increase, since consumers’ demand should grow,” explains Francesco Branchi of CLAL. “The consumer is becoming more and more attentive to his social status and his well-being, and dairy products can be an answer to these growing needs.”

Although nascent, Laos’ dairy industry is on the up, and pioneering enterprises like Laos Buffalo Dairy are catering to growing demand. At its launch, it was the nation’s only dairy of any kind, but over the past three years has been joined by a smattering of others. Ideally, Martin explains, they’d reproduce the

model in new locations across Laos, and in other nations with similar challenges.

But first, their grand aims include renting 400 buffalo a year, and extending their nutrition programme to more villages. “The more the farm grows,” she says, “the more we’re putting back into the communities.”

32 / GLOBAL / EXPLORATION

NEIGHBOURHOOD

BERN, SWITZERLAND

46.9480ºN 7.4485ºE

Truffles, rösti, gelato… this Swiss medieval escape combiness 15th-century charm with seriously good eating

Old Town, Bern WORDS AND IMAGES: MARK PARREN TAYLOR

DID YOU KNOW?

Bern was founded in 1191

by Duke Berchtold, who named the city after the first animal he found on a hunting expedition there – a bear

A popular spot for a sundowner picnic, the views from Bern’s Rosengarten park are romantic and far-reaching.

They stretch from snow-capped Alps in the south to the rolling hills and mountains on the border with France to the northwest. Unusually, though, people don’t come for the sweeping landscapes. They come to watch the sun’s last rays tickle the fairytale rooftops and spires of Bern’s Old Town.

The rose garden stands above the river Aare, which loops around Bern’s medieval centre. It provided natural defence on three sides of the city back in the day, at a time when this region had more warring dynasties than there are holes in a mousetrap cheese. Founded in 1191, the original settlement was mostly wooden – but was all lost during a devastating fire in 1405. It was then that the townsfolk decided to rebuild using sandstone, their vision now realised as the fifteenth-century Old Town that sits on the hilly, river-embraced peninsula today.

It’s no wonder that this is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The shoulder-to-shoulder stone buildings and narrow cobbled alleys seem to have trapped in the echoes and atmosphere of the Middle Ages. Walk around the Old Town at dawn, or when geranium-filled window boxes are lit by lamplight, and every step seems to carry you back further in time.

During the day, though, take a stroll along the elevated arcades – the medieval equivalent of a shopping mall – and hop between chi-chi boutiques, artisan chocolatiers, cafes and bric-abrac stores. This is how townsfolk have done it for centuries: enjoying some retail therapy while staying high and dry,

unconcerned by winter’s icy cobbled streets below, and shielded from summer downpours.

In the mornings the sun peeks from behind the hill Rosengarten sits on, and its rays shine straight up age-old main street Kramgasse to light up the ancient clocktower that stands at its end. This is Bern’s hallmark Zytglogge – or ‘time bell’ –with an astronomical clock dating back to the fifteenth century. Sightseers gather around the tower each hour to watch its historical automatons and clockwork bellstrikers.

None can fail to be enchanted by something you’ll find only in Switzerland: an oversized cuckoo clock.

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START

BERNER MÜNSTER The views over the higgledy red-tile rooftops of the Old Town (and of the contemporary city beyond) are as breathtaking as the climb up Bern Minster, the tallest place of worship in Switzerland. There are 312 stone steps to the viewing platform that collars the 100m-high bell tower, and from there both capitals – old and new – look refreshingly tree-filled. Peer straight down past the Gothic embellishments of the tower and fifteenth-century basilica beneath to Münstergasse where a fresh food street market sees local farmers, bakers and cheese-makers offering fresh fare each Tuesday and Saturday. (The Minster often opens at 10am during weekends, but check online in advance of your trip.)

Münsterplatz 1, +41 31 312 04 62, minsmuenster.ch

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A FIVE-MINUTE WALK

OLD TOWN ARCADES Bern’s iconic arcades line several of the medieval Old Town’s ‘gasse’ (or alleys) and provide a total six kilometres of covered walkways. As well as a succession of tempting opportunities to empty your purse while filling your boots, elegant and broad Kramgasse is punctuated by a series of unique sixteenth-century fountains decorated with religious and allegorical friezes and figurines including blind justice and armour-wearing bears.

Albert Einstein may well have stopped to refresh his thoughts by one of these intriguing fountains, because it was here (during a two-year stay starting 1903) that he established his Theory of Relativity. His apartment, frozen in time, is open for viewing.

Einsteinhaus Bern, Kramgasse 49, +41 31 312 00 91, einstein-bern.ch

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A TWO-MINUTE WALK

EINSTEIN CAFE The Swiss have smartly slipped two extra meals into their schedule: one called znüni, a mid-morning snack (usually about 9am), the other zvieri, equiva-

lent to British afternoon tea. Located directly below Einstein’s one-time pad, this eponymous café presents an opportunity to sample one or both of these bonus bites. Chattering marketgoers rendezvous with a local favourite of kaffee-crème and croissant, and the buzz doesn’t flag until neighbouring Bern Minster’s bells strike midnight.

Einstein Cafe is a good choice any time of day for a snack: from a pick-me-up gateau zvieri-style, to a late-night vegetarian sandwich made with the delicious house bread.

Kramgasse 49, +41 31 312 28 28, einstein-cafe.ch

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A THIRTY-MINUTE WALK (2KM SOUTH ALONG THE RIVER, VIA MARZILIBAHN FUNICULAR)

THE RIVER AARE For many Bernese, a dip in the river Aare is a daily duty. A kickstart before breakfast, as a midday refresher, or while others are trapped in the evening rush hour, the great and the good take time out to ‘drift’ in the Aare’s fast-moving stream – ensuring they don’t miss any of the exit points and end up in one of the weirs further down the river.

Some folk head 28km to neighbouring town Thun where they set out on a raft with picnic and mood music for the two-hour journey back to Bern. Most stay local, strolling upstream a kilometre or two for a gentle and safe entry into the turquoise glacial waters via riverside steps, or a heroic leap from the adjacent iron footbridge, Schönausteg.

Whatever category you fall into, be sure to read, then re-read, all safety advice.

Schönausteg at 46.9342°N 7.4456°E, bern.com/en/detail/the-aare-river

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A FIVE-MINUTE WALK

GELATERIE DI BERNA With four locations (and the occasional pop-up), any urges for on trend, off-radar gelato are soon satisfied at this stylish ice-cream parlour. Pannacotta, chocolate fondant, pineapple and basil, pepper grapefruit… even fermented cream with tree resin. Yes, some flavours seem way out there, but most are irresistible. There’s only one problem: the flavour inventors spend the winter working on new combos, meaning the shops won’t re-open until mid-March.

Marzilistrasse 32, gelateriadiberna.ch

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A TWENTY-MINUTE WALK VIA MARZILIBAHN FUNICULAR

TRUFFLE, BOTH WAYS Confiserie Tschirren, located at a sweet spot close to Zytglogge clocktower has been making praline, biscuits and chocolate truffles for a century.

Try their champagne truffle, which is the store’s signature, as well as the sublime ‘pruneaux’ of dried plum, nestled in a creamy ganache. Their hazelnut gingerbread makes a good present too, embossed as it is with the city’s symbol of a bear (should you want to see more of them, head down the street over Nydegg Bridge, to the 19-century Bear Pit). If you don’t have a sweet tooth the shop also sells sandwiches, or, a few doors down, Chäsbueb sells 101 unctuous regional cheeses and several Bernese varieties, including the black truffle-coated Bärner Küssli.

Confiserie Tschirren, Kramgasse 73, +41 31 311 17 17, swiss-chocolate.ch Chäsbueb, Kramgasse 83, +41 31 311 22 71, chaesbueb.ch

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A TEN-MINUTE WALK

A TASTE OF BERN If you’re hankering for classic Swiss cooking – think dinner-plate-sized röstis [fried grated-potato cakes], health-giving sauerkraut, racks of grilled meats – two restaurants which fit the bill happen to be just minutes apart on foot, yet seasons apart in style.

‘Old-skool’ Kornhauskeller occupies a glorious vaulted cellar, decorated with high baroque murals and paintings. If you cannot face its speciality, ‘Bernese Plate’ (tip: approach it with the zeal of a Matterhorn mountaineer), the restaurant wisely offers fish dishes and even a vegetarian paella. At Restaurant Lötschberg the mood is turn-of-thecentury hipster, with formica-topped tables and vintage nicknacks. Here,

diners can easily eschew meat to focus on raclette or fondue.

Kornhauskeller, Kornhausplatz 18, +41 31 327 72 72, bindella.ch/de/kornhauskeller-galeriebar.html Restaurant Lötschberg, Zeughausgasse 16, +41 31 311 34 55, loetschberg-aoc.ch

BERN

Emirates serves two destinations in Switzerland – Zurich and Geneva.

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED

Conor Purcell examines how a once-humble medium has been utterly transformed

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Bonanza – the show that broke the sitcom family mould traditional to US programming, to feature life on the Western frontier

Switch on the new Netflix show Maniac and you may be surprised by all the things that you are no longer surprised by. One: The show features two bona fide Hollywood stars, Jonah Hill and Emma Stone. Two: It’s directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, probably the hottest director around (he directed Jane Eyre and will take the helm of the next James Bond, among others). Three: It’s awe-inspiringly ambitious in its scope; a narrative-twisting, time-shifting visual feast.

There was a time when any one of those things would have been startling on the small screen – but all three?

Nowadays the stream of talent moving between small and silver screens has turned into a flood. What was once Hollywood’s greatest strength – the fact that you could escape the world for two hours – has been challenged by the multi-episodic nature of television, which allows character development so nuanced that whole essays centre around a character’s change in hairstyle (Stranger Things’ protagonist, Eleven).

It wasn’t always this way, of course.

In the days before cable, TV was that thing that was on between the ad

breaks. Shows were designed in order to facilitate the advertisers that paid the bills – one of the reasons why US network shows still have ad breaks every fifteen minutes.

The content was as straitjacketed as the format. Watch American TV in the 1960s and you won’t see any mention of the counterculture, the anti-Vietnam riots, the growing disillusionment with the American way of life. The most popular shows of the decade were The Beverly Hillbillies, The Andy Griffith Show and Bonanza.

Of course these shows got huge viewing figures; if something like The Wire was beamed into American homes in 1965, there would have been a collective meltdown. In those halcyon days, distributors distributed and content creators created. Now, a seismic change has resulted in these focused job functions becoming increasingly blurred, resulting in more choice for the consumer and an opening up of the creative possibilities of what television can be. The fact that Netflix relies on subscribers rather than advertisers for its revenue has resulted in what some see as more daring choices. Moreover, the fact

that the platform needs to come up with new content almost every week to satisfy the binge-watching habits of its viewers has led to increasingly creative content.

To understand why television hasimproved so much, we must go back to 1972. Television at that time was dominated by the ‘Big Three’: the three network TV companies (ABC, NBC, CBS) that decided what was broadcast and raked in huge revenues while doing so.

That year, a new channel emerged: HBO. This was the first TV station that relied on an underground cable to transmit its content, rather than the microwave antennas which were then

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix.

The company recently stated that they view the online video game Fortnite as more of a threat than HBO

the mainstay. Cable TV fundamentally changed the model that had served advertisers for decades. Suddenly the revenue came from the viewers, rather than the advertisers. This meant, theoretically at least, that cable TV could pander to the audience rather than advertisers. HBO’s audience kept growing: 600,000 households by 1977, and 12 million by 1983. That success was built on films rather than original programming, but it showed that people would pay for high quality content. As the subscriber numbers grew the channel put more money into its own programming, and was rewarded in 1999 when The Sopra-

nos became the first cable show to be nominated for Best Drama Series.

What HBO did was to keep pushing boundaries. Ignoring cookie cutter comedies like Two And A Half Men in favour of edgier fare such as High Maintenance, an offbeat comedy plucked from Vimeo, it spends money instead on the cast, crew and writing. Two series where this is evident are True Detective and Game of Thrones – both hugely expensive to produce (the latter costing around US$10 million per episode), but are repaid with massive viewing figures: more than 30 million people watched each episode of season seven, comforta-

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bly breaking the channel’s record viewing figures. To put this in perspective, HBO’s revenue rose 7 per cent to $6.3 billion last year, partly due to the channel’s ability to navigate the new post-Netflix waters. Netflix, in comparison, earned $11.6 billion last year, a number that underlines their utter dominance of the streaming market. CBS, one of the ‘big three’ networks made slightly more than $13 billion, which illustrates how quickly Netflix has grown.

Back in 1983, three Hollywood film studios, paranoid at HBO’s growing audience, set up Showtime and The Movie Channel in order to compete. A plethora of similar cable movie channels emerged in the following years, most of them awful. Then in 1997 came Netflix, set up by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, initially as a DVD rental company. Hastings came up with idea after being forced to pay a $40 late fee on his Apollo 13 rental.

They pivoted to a streaming company ten years later, by which stage they had also started producing their own content.

Netflix’s first big gamble came in 2011, when it outbid HBO and AMC to buy House of Cards. The show ended up

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From L-R: Game of Thrones; The Sopranos; Hill Street Blues; Street Killing, an ABC made-for-TV movie

winning Emmys and Golden Globes and more importantly shifted the perception of Netflix from a streaming service to a content creator. The original hits kept coming: Orange Is The New Black, Stranger Things and Making a Murderer.

Last year Netflix won more Emmy nominations than HBO for the first time, and it’s a trend that looks set to continue, with 85 per cent of the company’s $8 billion war chest set to be spent on new shows.

While Netflix changed how we view TV, it is also hastening the demise of cable. Bundled cable TV subscriptions are falling at an alarming rate, and although the cable TV companies are delaying the inevitable by raising the prices for the remaining customers, there’s only so long they can do that for. “You’ve got high prices, big bundles, and broadband,” says Warren Schlichting, president of Sling TV, which has more than two million people paying for an online service that starts at $25 and offers 30 channels. “At some stage, the consumer is going to revolt.”

Right now, it’s the studios that are revolting, with each of them working on their own streaming services, no longer comfortable with selling all of their content to Netflix. Disney, which recently bought another maker of TV shows and films, Fox, is holding onto its content ahead of the launch of its own streaming service. And networks such as HBO, CBS, Showtime, and Starz have also launched their own subscription services.

“To hedge this, Netflix has to look overseas,” says Tony Gunnarsson, a streaming video analyst at Ovum, a data and analysis company. “Growth rates in the US are going to drop into single digits very soon, probably in the next two years.

Internationally, that’s quite different.”

Netflix is set to create 100 original foreign-language TV shows and movies in the next two years, illustrating how seriously the global market is to the company’s expansion plans. “Five to six per cent of the world’s population is in the US and UK. But what per cent of TV is coming out of Hollywood?” says Erik Barmack, Netflix’s Vice President of International Originals. “It can’t be the case that somehow Americans are

that much better at telling stories than the rest of the world. It has to be a function of how linear TV is distributed and where the power centre was,” he says.

“That’s one concept. A second is that over half of our subscribers are now international. We know we need to find the best storytellers in the world wherever they are.”

That search will become increasingly important, says Gunnarson, as the company’s market shrinks in the West.

“Netflix today is the DVD of yesteryear,” he said. “Netflix will even start shedding subscribers by the early to middle 2020s as more and more TV viewers turn to subscription-based linear streaming video.”

That seems to be the lot of the broadcasting innovators: disrupt, dominate and then, finally, be usurped by a new player. Who or what will emerge to dethrone Netflix remains to be seen. What we do know is that change means the same for the viewer now as it did back in 1972: cheaper prices and more choice.

And that’s a happy ending whichever way you look at it.

acters were layered; more, well, human and the stories of the cops that plied their trade at New York’s Hill Street station were always nuanced. Although never a commercial success (it became the lowest rated show ever renewed for a second year), it won eight Emmys in its first year.

The West Wing (1999-2006) You could argue that the concept of binge viewing only arrived with The West Wing. Created by Aaron Sorkin, the series debuted in 1999, pre-streaming, but just in time for the DVD boom. Although the show did well in its first year, it was its first Emmy win that saw its audience jump from nine to 17 million per episode. All those people had to play catch up, and it was to the box set they turned.

The Sopranos (1999-2007)

THE TV SHOWS THAT CHANGED TELEVISION Hill Street Blues (1981-1987) In an era when every other TV show’s narrative was neatly wrapped up after each episode, Hill Street Blues pioneered the use of multi-episode stories and character arcs. The char-

Where do you start with The Sopranos? The creator, David Chase’s masterstroke was firstly to create such a rich, deep, set of characters, and secondly, to cast them the way he did. Forgetting the stereotypes, these characters had a depth and pathos previously unseen in Italian-American characters.

The Wire (2002-2008) David Simon’s weaving, layered dollop of Baltimore social history is routinely regarded as the pinnacle of television. Take a group of disaffected Baltimore

cops, a rag-bag of criminals, politicians and lawyers and you get a cleareyed view of the many issues inherent in modern American society. Simon’s genius was to ensure that this never became moralistic and was always entertaining.

Breaking Bad (2008-2013) Breaking Bad brought a new level of visual competence to television and was the first show that really ushered in the streaming era. It put Netflix on the map and established Vince Gilligan as one of the great writers of the medium. Focusing on a mild-mannered chemistry teacher who, after discovering he has cancer, starts making meth with a former student to pay the healthcare bills. Explosive, compelling, and addictive.

POWER

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WORDS: JESS HOLLAND

STAR

PHOTOS: MARK RUSSELL

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New Zealand’s Great Barrier Island is one of the best places on Earth to view the constellations, but that’s just part of what makes it special

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Stars aren’t just pinpricks of white light. When you’re on an island with almost zero light pollution and it’s a clear night before moonrise, they can pulse pink and green like Christmas lights, send out icy blue points like something out of a vintage Star Wars poster or – when low enough to the horizon – even resemble a miniature rainbow. It’s possible to see the sun’s rays reflected off peach-coloured Mars, the wispy clouds of distant galaxies, and the heaped glitter of the Milky Way arcing through the sky.

The 900 or so residents of Great Barrier Island, a 285km-squared landmass a half-hour flight northeast of Auckland, have been enjoying this light show for decades, but in 2017, the off-grid spot became one of only three worldwide to be officially recognised as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary for the inky blackness of its nights.

Since then that number has increased to five, with another off-grid New Zealand spot, Stewart Island, joining sites in Utah, New Mexico and Chile.

Stargazing organisations have popped up to cater to the additional interest this recognition has brought, among them Good Heavens, run by locals Deborah Kilgallon and Hilde Hoven. It’s Kilgallon who leads our group through a tour of the cosmos on a night between Christmas and New Year, arranging comfy chairs, blankets, a powerful telescope and, later on, providing hot chocolate and homemade brownies.

The experience started at dusk, as Kilgallon helped us spot the brightest stars that were first to appear. By the time it ended two hours later the sky was dazzlingly illuminated with layers upon layers of flickering specks, the Milky Way clearly visible to the naked eye, as were the two galaxies orbiting our own, known as the Magellanic Clouds and visible as white wispy puffs.

“Time floats away,” Kilgallon says when we talk a few days later about the experience of letting your mind wander

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as you take in the vastness of the universe. “I’m sure that’s what it was like for our ancestors when [looking at the stars] was a big part of their nighttime entertainment.”

While Good Heavens caters to many people unfamiliar with the constellations, the quality of Great Barrier Island’s nighttime sky also attracts veteran astronomers from the Northern Hemisphere, who are able to see phenomena not visible further north. These include not just the Magellanic Clouds and the Southern Cross – recognisable from the New Zealand and Australian flags and used for navigation – but also two “globular clusters”: Omega Centuari and 47 Tucanae.

These group of a million or more stars, bound tightly together by gravity and dating back to not long after the Big Bang, look like glittering snowballs shot through with delicate colours when viewed through a telescope. They are Kilgallon’s favourite phenomenon in the night sky: “The fact that they are some of the original stars created in the universe was something that captivated me. And it was so beautiful, like a pile of translucent sand.” Our stargazing experience gave us time to marvel at this site, as well as allowing us to pick out the constellations familiar from Greek myths and horoscopes, and other notable stars such as the supergiant Betelguese, which gives off a red shimmer.

Kilgallon also explained the Maori constellation “Te Waka O Rangi,” which takes the form of a boat captained by a star called Taramainuku. It drags a net through the night sky and gathers the souls of all the people who died that day. When the constellation disappears from the sky in May, according to this myth, Taramainuku is taking these souls to the underworld. When they reappear a month later, they are released into the sky to become more stars, and the mourning period of the bereaved comes to an end.

To enjoy the 5,000 stars that are visible from Great Barrier Island – around ten times more than you’d see in nearby

Auckland – requires the right weather conditions, of course. We were lucky that we booked our tour of the cosmos for a night that happened to be cloudless, but Kilgallon and Hoven recommend coming to Great Barrier Island for at least three days in order to ensure at least one suitable night. That’s no chore, however, as the island feels like a little slice of paradise as soon as you step off either the ferry or the terrifyingly tiny plane that brings you over.

The conditions that make these stars shine so distinctly – the lack of development, and particularly the lack of an electrical grid – also makes Great Barrier Island feel truly remote, wild and teeming with wildlife. Dolphins, orcas, rays and several types of shark can be spotted swimming in its clear waters. Crayfish, scallops and snappers can be pulled fresh out of the sea and thrown on a grill, and local birdlife abounds, including noisy parrots and electric-green parakeets.

That said, there’s enough going on that you don’t feel completely cut off: a few shops, a radio station, some art galleries, a church, internet and phone reception that mostly works, a few roads wrapping around the island. It’s possible to hire cars, and a new company called Paddles and Saddles has started to rent out electric bikes, recharged from stored solar energy, as well as paddleboards, kayaks and vintage-looking scooters. This makes it easy to explore the island’s peaks, pristine beaches, hot springs and “mermaid pool” rock formations.

Once you’ve stayed on Great Barrier Island for long enough to enjoy the constellations, it’s likely that you’ll have fallen so far down the stargazing rabbit hole that you’re hungry for more.

Luckily, New Zealand offers plenty of other opportunities to contemplate the cosmos, in addition to Stewart Island, which is even less populated and developed than Great Barrier.

For example, the Mount John Observatory at the heart of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve

(these meet slightly different conditions from Dark Sky Sanctuaries) is the country’s premier astronomical research centre, and offers tours dedicated to astrophotography and viewing the stars through telescopes in stunning natural surroundings. There are also ideal conditions for stargazing at Stonehenge-Aotearoa, near Wellington in Wairarapa.

It’s an open-sky observatory modelled on the original Stonehenge, which helps mark out the position of the sun at the solstices and equinoxes, relative to the background stars.

Over on the South Island, it’s possible to take a trip on the Skyline Gondola in Queenstown that incorporates a stargazing tour, and an optional dinner. And those who are interested in the human exploration of space should also check out the schedule of launches

by Rocket Lab, the world’s first private spaceport, which was built on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula in 2016 and had its first commercial launch just before Christmas. While the company warns that launches are likely to be delayed and scrubbed with little warning, the local council has allocated a public viewing area to see these spacecraft take off near Nuhuka in Hawke’s Bay. Looking up at stars, planets and rockets is fascinating from a scientific point of view, but anyone who becomes captivated by stargazing will soon realise that there is an attraction that’s far deeper than that. “It changes your mindset,” Kilgallon says. “If you look beyond our planet and our solar system and realise what a small detail we are, it can help you be a lot more relaxed with your place in the world.

“Knowing that we’re this tiny speck within the whole universe helps you not sweat the small things, when everything doesn’t go exactly right. There’s something going on that’s much more momentous. In a couple of billion years, one of the Magellanic Clouds is going to come crashing into the Milky Way, and what’s going to happen then? You just have to look up and enjoy where we are right now in this moment.”

In 2017, Great Barrier Island achieved sanctuary status, reserved for the most isolated and dark locations in the world.

YOSIGO’S DUBAI

One Spanish photographer – One very different view of the emirate

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Cinematic is an over-used term when it comes to photography, but for José Javier Serrano, aka Yosigo, the description holds water. Hailing from San Sebastian in Northern Spain, the photographer – who has published several books – injects a filmic quality into the most mundane of subjects, from housing complexes to burnt-out cars.

From “Mare de Deu“, a dissertation on his own apartment that transforms the humble stool into an objet d’art to “Greetings From” – which made even the bars of Benidorm look appealing – Yosigo specialises in elevating the humble. It was clear that he would not be resorting

to the usual Dubai or Middle Eastern clichés in his series. “I actually haven’t seen many images of Dubai before this trip, so I felt totally free to shoot what really caught my attention,” he says.

With an aesthetic adage to “always find the light” and a fairly broad focus of architecture and tourism, the following images represent both a tourist paradise, and a quiet unknown. It is these gaps between the city’s busiest centres – these quieter moments – that Yosigo sought.

The shots also celebrate the lesser-known architecture of the UAE. Through Yosigo’s lens, a nondescript housing block becomes a Bauhaus mas-

terpiece; rows of rusted cars in the desert evoke a Mad Max, apocalyptic mise-enscène. “I was fascinated by the repetition of elements and the colours of the buildings,” he says. Across all images vivid orange and blue hues saturate the lens, imbuing the viewer with warmth.

“Dubai has been a 100 per cent photographic journey,” he concludes. “I wanted to visit and photograph it a lot, and it has not disappointed me at all.”

Enjoying this issue of Open Skies?

Keep up with the magazine at openskiesmagazine.com

THE CULT

OF THE SUPERCAR Tourists in Dubai often spend a lot of time with their necks craned, gazing up at the city’s spectacular skyline. But for car culture vultures, the focus is squarely aimed at street level.

WORDS: JAMES DAVISON

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D

ubai is internationally renowned for its love affair with the automobile. From a police force with an attention-grabbing fleet of supercars to smashing Guinness World Records with the largest synchronised car dance, it seems there’s always a car-related headline breaking the internet and maintaining Dubai’s premiere position on the automotive map. There really are very few, if any, places in the world where spotting rare and exotic machinery driven on the street is the norm, rather than an exception.

It is hard to fully comprehend the automotive passion that exists in Dubai. It’s true that the automobile has always been a status symbol and Dubai does have an affluent portion of the population, but that doesn’t quite cover it. From the ruling family, to the citizens, to the residents, it’s a shared passion. This passion has swerved eco in recent years – much of the taxi fleet are now hybrids, and Tesla is becoming increasingly popular in the region – but the love for the traditional automobile has endured.

Almost all car marques have their Middle Eastern, African and Indian re-

gional headquarters based in Dubai, placing it as the automotive hub for a large portion of the planet, and it has even started to attract new car manufacturers.

If you’ve seen the Hollywood blockbuster ‘Furious 7’ from the Fast and Furious series you will be familiar with the Lykan HyperSport, a luxury, highperformance supercar from Dubai-based W Motors. This was the first supercar to be designed and produced in the Middle East but is certainly not the last. The company is now preparing to commence deliveries on its successor, the Fenyr SuperSport, which will be limited to 110 cars and carrying a price tag of US$1.4m (AED 5.2m), compared to $3.4m for the Lykan.

If that sounds a bit pricey there is always the opportunity to pick up a pre-owned supercar at one of the many showrooms dotted along Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai. From luxury barges to exotic sportscars, chances are you will find what you are looking for here. But petrolheads on the hunt for something truly unique in the second-hand market will head to one particular showroom, tucked away off the main road.

Tomini Classics is Dubai’s premier classic car gallery, specialising in postwar sportscars. You will find an eclectic mix of machinery here, from a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Ellena to more modern rarities like a 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722. Tomini isn’t settling for just being Dubai’s premier classic car gallery, with ambitious global ambitions. As operational manager Assyl Yacine states: “We want to be the best in the world. If we aren’t aiming for that then we might as well stop now.”

What makes Tomini Classics different than other showrooms selling rare machinery is the provenance of the vehicles in its inventory. A 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4 previously owned by Porsche factory racer and three time Le Mans winner Al Holbert? Check. A 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport Berlinetta that Mussolini bought for his lover? Check. You get the idea – the vehicles in stock are often the best examples that can be sourced of already-rare cars. With this added provenance, Tomini becomes an Aladdin’s Cave to the automotively-inclined.

Far from treating these vehicles as irreplaceable automotive objets d’art,

Left: Lamborghini Aventador.

Right: A Mercedes 280SL; A Toyota 2000GT, considered to be Japan’s first supercar

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From L-R: Made in Dubai, the custombuilt sportscar Jannarelly – the three-year-old company is working on an electric model; the Lykan HyperSport, on display in Tianjin; the showroom at Parc Fermé

Tomini – like many other UAE-based outlets – believe that cars exist to be driven. Even examples like the 1973 Holbert 911S mentioned above are regularly driven; the aforementioned even competing in the Dubai Chopard Classic Rally recently, driven by none other than Le Mans winning racers, Jacky Ickx and Alexander Dumas.

Dubai is a new city with a modern road network that is user friendly when it comes to driving exotic machinery. With most venues, hotels and restaurants offering valet parking, owners can feel secure that their pride and joy isn’t going to suffer any unfortunate parking lot mishaps while they are enjoying a meal

or a night at the opera. The result is that supercars and classic cars alike get driven in Dubai, and regularly. Their significance is such that they are even included in royal quotes. As His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, once said: “If I were alone on an island I would make sure to have three things: fishing equipment, a car and a person I love.” This country-wide passion has helped to establish a passionate community of likeminded individuals and the formation of multiple car clubs and drive events to participate in.

The Ninth Degree Supercar Club is arguably Dubai’s premier car club for automotive enthusiasts. Founded in April

2015 to provide local car enthusiasts with professionally run events and tours, the club now boasts over 260 members and hosts an average of 36 events per year across different luxury locations within the United Arab Emirates. These private members-only events involve adrenaline packed track days, drag racing and drift events where owners can experience the ability of their high-performance vehicles to the full in a safe and – importantly – legal environment as well as official drives through scenic locations and social events.

In response to extensive requests from tourists and UAE residents who wanted to experience the thrill of driv-

65

ILLUSTRATION: MITCH BLUNT; PHOTOS: ROGER CHAN, SHIVAUM PUNJABI, JONATHAN TAYLOR, GETTY IMAGES

ing supercars (without the corresponding financial commitment), the club decided to expand its business beyond owner events. Half day, full day and even overnight tour packages are available and take in pre-planned routes, encompassing some of the best roads in the UAE and experiencing other adren-

aline-filled activities, from zip-lining in Ras Al Khaimah to skydiving over The Palm. Far from its Knighstbridge billionaire reputation, car culture in Dubai is becoming truly inclusive.

Naturally, with the prevalence of exotic supercars and classic cars, satellite businesses catering to the specific

needs of owners has become a crucial element of Dubai car culture. Modern day hyper-hybrid supercars are a hefty investment and consist of complicated, cutting-edge technology requiring specialist care and attention. Priceless classic cars require an altogether different approach in maintenance and preservation, especially during the hotter summer months, which older cars were never designed to endure.

Driving pleasure comes from trouble-free motoring and, thankfully, Dubai has an automotive infrastructure in place keeping machinery in prime condition and ready to be used.

One such solution catering to the needs of owners is Parc Fermé. On the surface a basic car storage facility, the interior reveals a one-stop shop for owners, where each vehicle is individually cared for and catered to its – and its owners – specific needs in a climate-controlled environment. Service and maintenance is carried out by a small team of experts ensuring that the vehicle is always in prime condition and ready to be driven by the owner without the associated headaches associated with car ownership. Parc Fermé will also take care of annual registration, insurance or even the logistics in relocating the vehicle should the owner wish to drive it while on holiday in a foreign country or have their car waiting for them upon arrival at Dubai airport. In essence, the complete care service provided by Parc Fermé means owners can focus on what is really important: the thrill of driving.

What does the future hold for automotive enthusiasts in Dubai? The passion for the classic car will undoubtedly endure, as well as more tourist-based experiences. But in a modern city that embraces the future, environmental concerns will see a shift in the automotive landscape. With the current breed of hybrid hyper cars and the next generation looking to be all-electric – don’t expect this automotive passion to just suddenly dwindle and die out. Dubai is, and will continue to be, the land of the supercar for the foreseeable future.

66 / EXPO 2020

Driving the next generation of innovation In addition to showcasing cutting-edge technologies to millions of people from around the world, Expo 2020 Dubai will help strengthen the UAE’s long-term position as a global hub for innovation WORDS: MOHAMMED ALHASHMI, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT – INNOVATION AND FUTURE TECHNOLOGY, EXPO 2020 DUBAI With 190 participating countries already confirmed and 25 million visits expected between October 2020 and April 2021, Expo 2020 Dubai represents a golden opportunity to showcase cutting-edge technologies to people from every corner of the planet.

However, the next World Expo is far more than a shop window for the latest tech. By embracing innovation in all its forms, Expo 2020’s impact will extend long beyond its sixmonth timeframe, helping to reinforce the UAE’s status as an international focal point for creativity, ingenuity and progress for generations to come.

As part of UAE Innovation Month, people, companies and government entities from across the Emirates are working to strengthen the country’s position as a global hub for technological advancement. In collaboration with our partners, Expo 2020 is contributing to this national vision by helping to create a culture of innovation.

The next World Expo will show how smart infrastructure can shape future cities.

Thanks to our partnership with Siemens, for example, 137 structures across the Expo site will be fitted with smart building technologies, allowing us to monitor and control their functions while maximising energy efficiency, safety, security and visitor comfort.

The 5G network from our partner Etisalat will allow Expo 2020 to provide the most advanced digital and telecom services to visitors and participants. Around 20 times the speed of today’s 4G network and with virtually no lag, 5G technology has applications for autonomous driving, networking vehicles, industrial automation and the Internet of

Things, enabling us to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to future advancements.

We are also working closely with our other partners, including Accenture, Cisco, Mastercard and SAP, to deliver an unforgettable visitor experience for millions of people.

From April 2021, our site will continue to facilitate innovation, serving as the foundation for District 2020 – a world-class integrated hub that will reuse 80 per cent of Expo’s built environment to become one of the most connected and tech-enabled destinations for working, living and exploring. Two of our Official Premier Partners, Accenture and Siemens, have committed to establishing a permanent presence within this smart city.

As the largest ever event to take place in the Arab world, Expo 2020 has the potential to catalyse innovation across the region and beyond. This is a global opportunity to drive long-term technological development, triggering a lasting and tangible impact on humanity.

After all, Expo 2020 Dubai is only the beginning. The future of innovation starts here.

Above: The Expo 2020 Dubai site will show how smart infrastructure can shape future cities

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

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68 / LITFEST / THE BIG QUESTION

Nelson Mandela with the Riemvasmaak people and La Grange, his PA

Good Morning, Mr Mandela

From the confidante and former private secretary to Nelson Mandela, Zelda La Grange WORDS: ZELDA LA GRANGE I was generally oblivious to what was happening in the country, the poverty of blacks and the violence, but I knew we lived in separate cocoons and that we were fighting one another in a bitter battle because we were not able to co-exist. It was pressed upon us instinctively, because of the way we lived, that when approached by a black person, you turned and walked the other way.

You didn’t make conversation and you feared them. They were not our friends.

I was quite happy with my life as it was and knew that we were locking doors and windows from an early age out of fear that black people might attack us at night. It never crossed my mind that we could be harmed by white people too. It was always ‘black’ people. I didn’t ask why they might attack us, or who they

were or what their lives were like. I only knew that they were dangerous.

On Sundays we solemnly prayed in church for the men defending our borders. It was the right thing to do because everybody else did it. Well, all the other whites in my community. I didn’t know which border but I knew they were fighting black people. My knowledge was limited to whites protecting the borders from infiltration by more black people.

How strange that one didn’t ask the question, which black people? Were we protecting our borders from infiltration by more black people, or were we protecting our borders from other military forces in the region infiltrating South Africa to support the African National Congress (ANC)? You were just told this: we are fighting black Communists.

I was brought up to believe all black people were communists and atheists.

Yet on Sundays black people gathered in small groups in open spaces, holding church services. I disregarded seeing that and cannot remember that the contradiction to what I was brought up to believe ever bothered me. As a child, it is easy to follow when you grow up in an environment that is safe. Perhaps if I had been oppressed, didn’t have access to a decent school, a proper house, electricity and water, I would have asked different questions, and my brain would have developed into being more inquisitive about injustice at an early age. In any case, it didn’t.

Today I also realise that the community you grow up in chooses to live a certain way. The people around you, grownup adult people, decide what is socially acceptable and what is not. You live that life not realising that there is a life beyond; issues, policies, world events and tendencies that influence your world.

When you live in comfort, you don’t ask questions, and there was no need for me to question what was happening beyond the walls of our house. No person is born a racist. You become a racist by the influences around you. And I had become a racist by the time I was thirteen years old. By that calculation, I should never have become Nelson Mandela’s longest serving assistant. But I did.

An extract from Good Morning, Mr Mandela, by Zelda La Grange. La Grange will be appearing at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, from 1-9 March 2019

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Emirates NEWS

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INSIDE EMIRATES

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DESTINATION

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UAE SMART GATE

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ROUTE MAP

Emirates lounge opens in Rome The Emirates lounge at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport has undergone a US$4.5 million makeover, with a new contemporary design and runway views. p.73

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FLEET

72 / EMIRATES / NEWS

Emirates and South African Airways to expand partnership

Emirates and South African Airways (SAA), the South African flag carrier, are expanding their codeshare agreement, opening up new destinations for both Emirates and SAA customers.

Pending governmental approval, the two carriers will see an already-successful codeshare agreement signed in 1997 strengthen across a wide spectrum of commercial and customer touch points.

“We have enabled greater connectivity to both SAA and Emirates customers, by offering more choice, flexibility and ease of connections to a wide range of cities via Dubai and across more points in Southern Africa,” said Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline.

SAA is able to offer its customers seats on the eight daily flights operated

by Emirates between South Africa and Dubai (four daily flights from Johannesburg including its iconic A380 aircraft, two daily flights from Cape Town and one daily flight from Durban).

The enhanced agreement means that the two airlines will work towards bringing synergies to their respective route network, customer touch points, cargo services and flight schedules to enable seamless connectivity and enhance passenger flows. Connectivity will be improved by adjusting connecting times through Johannesburg, with a special focus on popular regional markets.

EMIRATES TO OPERATE A380 TO GLASGOW Emirates will introduce a daily A380 service for a temporary period between Glasgow and Dubai from 16 April 2019. It will be the first time the popular double decker aircraft will operate on a scheduled basis to Scotland.

The larger capacity A380 will replace Emirates’ current twice daily Boeing 777 service between Glasgow and Dubai from 16 April until 31 May 2019, during which time Dubai Airports plan to close Dubai International’s (DXB) southern runway for upgrade works, and the single runway operations require airlines to reduce and adjust their operating schedules.

The deployment of the A380 is to minimise the reduction of Emirates’ capacity from Glasgow to Dubai and beyond during this period.

NEW APPLICATION TO REDUCE AIRCRAFT TURNAROUND DELAYS AT DUBAI HUB Emirates passengers travelling from or transiting through Dubai International Airport (DXB) can expect fewer instances of delays associated with aircraft turnaround, thanks to a new innovative application built in-house called the Hub Monitor. It currently takes about 105 minutes to turn around the Emirates A380, the world’s largest commercial passenger

jet, and about 90 minutes to prepare the Boeing 777 aircraft for departure at Emirates’ hub in Dubai.

With Hub Monitor, teams from departments including Engineering, Flight Operations, and dnata Operations keep track of the turnaround activities on a real time basis, triggering alerts to operational staff when there is a delay or deviation.

EMIRATES / NEWS / 73

EMIRATES SKYCARGO LAUNCHES FREIGHTER SERVICES TO BOGOTA

New Emirates Lounge opens in Rome Emirates’ premium and loyal customers travelling from Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport can now look forward to greater comfort and convenience with the opening of the airline’s new lounge.

All Emirates’ First Class and Business Class customers, as well as Skywards Platinum and Gold members, travelling on the airline’s two flights a day from Rome to Dubai will have complimentary access to the new facility, which replaces the old lounge and is now located in a more convenient

area of the airport terminal.

The lounge is situated in departure Terminal 3, Level 2. Its new location offers views over the runway and a direct boarding facility onto the aircraft, as well as nearly 950 square metres of floor space and seating for 162 customers. Emirates Skywards Silver and Skywards Blue customers can enjoy the lounge with paid access.

Emirates serves Rome with two flights a day and Milan with three flights a day, while Venice and Bologna are each served with a daily flight.

Create a personal ice playlist before your next trip Emirates has introduced an innovative new function on its app to allow customers to create bespoke playlists ahead of their flight.

Customers can plan their trip more effectively using the Emirates app by browsing the expansive entertainment catalogue on ice. ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, has reached a new milestone of over 4,000 channels of on-demand entertainment.

The catalogue includes over 1,000 movies, more than any other airline, popular television box sets, tens of

thousands of music tracks, podcasts and games.

Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Divisional Vice President, Customer Experience (IFEC) said: “We’ve seen that many customers spend a lot of time on board deciding what to watch.

With the ability to create and sync your playlist before you travel, it simply leaves you to get comfortable and press play once you board.”

Emirates SkyCargo has announced that it will be opening a new trade lane to South America with the start of freighter services to Bogota, Colombia. The Colombian capital will be served by a once-weekly freighter service starting 16 January 2019.

Emirates SkyCargo will be operating its Boeing 777 freighter aircraft to Bogota, which has an overall cargo capacity of over 100 tonnes and wide main deck doors allowing for large and outsized cargo.

Bogota will become Emirates SkyCargo’s sixth cargo destination in South America, and its third dedicated cargo destination on the continent.

Emirates SkyCargo will be working jointly with Avianca for the freighter service out of Bogota. The Latin American carrier will commercialise the capacity of the Boeing 777 freighter on its return leg from Bogota to Maastricht to move cargo booked by its customers.

Emirates SkyCargo and Avianca are developing a deeper partnership, whereby Avianca will benefit from Emirates SkyCargo’s well-developed network in the Middle East, Africa and Asia region, while Avianca will help strengthen Emirates SkyCargo’s reach in the South American market.

Enjoy responsibly - www.moët.com

LIFE’S MEMORABLE MOMENTS MUST BE MOËT & CHANDON

EMIRATES / NEWS / 75

New ice channels to help UAE tourists discover the best dining and attraction options

More than five million passengers a month experience Emirates’ ice entertainment platform Emirates continues to push boundaries with its award-winning ice entertainment system, and the announcement of an innovative solution to help Dubai and UAE businesses promote themselves to the over 5 million passengers a month flying on Emirates.

Dubai and the UAE have many great restaurants, entertainment options, events, activities and theme parks to enjoy – and all can now promote themselves to Emirates customers heading to Dubai, as well as UAE residents.

Two new promotional TV channels have been introduced – one called Dining and entertainment and the other Attractions and activities.

“Customers often ask the Emirates cabin crew for ideas about what to do and where to eat when flying to Dubai, so we’ve made it simpler for

customers to plan their trip,” said Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Division VP, Customer Experience (IFEC).

“Maybe you’re coming to Dubai for an important meeting and want to find a great restaurant to take clients to, or perhaps you’re looking for ideas to entertain the family on holiday – these will be “go to” channels on ice to help you plan your trip.”

The channels showcase must-see attractions, to help plan unforgettable days out or choose from the city’s best dining offerings and much more – all via dedicated TV channels.

The new channels appear in the Emirates and Dubai section on ice, which also includes a host of visitor information. See the Dubai & Emirates section on ice, starting on ice channel 6120 (Ch. 1390 on some aircraft).

These new TV channels offer lowcost marketing opportunities for

local businesses and brands, enabling them to showcase their products and services to a huge and relevant audience. The promotional videos feature everything from restaurants to golf courses, hotels to authentic UAE experiences, and much more to come.

To find out more, contact sales@motivate.ae

76 / INSIDE EMIRATES

Food, glorious food From our meals that encompass regional and seasonal cuisine across all classes, to our delicious and unusual snacks – Emirates never leaves you hungry 110 million+ Meals are served a year with Emirates, with the same attention to detail in First, Business and Economy

Regional Emirates’ focus on local flavour means it has food available from every region it flies to

Seasonal We create special menus for celebrations that range from Christmas, Eid, or Lunar New Year

Global partners We bring the finest products on board through longstanding partnerships worldwide

DID YOU KNOW?

Snacks across classes – what’s available?

Between main meals, a range of light bites are available – whether you’re travelling in First, Business or Economy Class. Snacks are rotated monthly, and the team constantly receive feedback from customers and crew on food items, so we know what’s popular.

Pretzels 200,000 per month

Scones 108,000 per month

Pizza 24,000 slices per month

On long-haul flights, there is also a snack tray in Economy with healthy fruit bars, biscuits & mini chocolates

INSIDE EMIRATES / 77

A QUICK Q+A: Joost Heymeijer, Senior Vice President of Catering Q: How are the snacks selected?

A: The Emirates Catering team are constantly searching and tasting new snack products on the market. The team attends food and hospitality shows to understand what’s new in the market.

Our suppliers are also continually looking at innovative options that can be placed on board that mirror trends in the market.

Q: What are the most popular snacks?

A: Our Quattro Formaggio Pizza with traditional Italian dough is very popular – especially on our flights to and from America. Customers are also always commenting on our Afternoon Tea Snack served on UK routes: finger sandwiches with warmed scones, clotted cream and jam.

STILL HUNGRY?

Additional snacks can be found across classes and planes

A380 bar

Where do the snacks in our First Class snack baskets come from?

Our A380 bar, open to First and Business, features sushi rolls, sandwiches, Arabic and Continental pastries and fresh fruit skewers. Or grab some popcorn and M&M’s for your inflight movie..

First Class snack basket

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■

■

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Butlers chocolate – Ireland

Joe & Sephs popcorn – United Kingdom

Lakrids liquorice – Denmark

Hunters crisps – United Arab Emirates

Brookfarm nuts and muesli – Australia

Savour fine dining whenever the mood takes you, from a full meal to a midnight snack. Available in all First Class suites, the snack basket features sweet and savoury snacks from around the world.

777 social area

The mini lounge area on our 777 planes serve Keogh’s potato crisps, sandwiches with a variety of fillings, and seasonal fruit.

78 / EMIRATES / DESTINATION

Johannesburg, South Africa Celebrate both ancient and revitalised in Africa’s ‘city of gold’ With a nickname gleaned from the discovery of the precious metal in the 1880s, South Africa’s largest city has undergone a serious polish of late.

The past decade has seen Johannesburg transform into the world’s largest manmade forest, thanks to the planting of 10 million trees, and suburbs that were once considered nogo zones have been reborn as dynamic communities.

Spanning an area slightly larger than greater London, Johannesburg is a city that demands exploration. With a street-art scene to rival Berlin or New York, the Maboneng Precinct is a shining example of Johannesburg’s recent revitalisation, converting a dilapidated neighbourhood into a creative hub of galleries, artists’ studios and fashion boutiques.

Join a walking tour of Maboneng with Mainstreetwalks, or take in the anti-

Emirates operates four daily services to Johannesburg. Choose from two daily A380 services and two flights operated by the Boeing 777-300ER.

apartheid sights of Soweto from the back of a tuk-tuk.

After dark, dine on South African cuisine in Rosebank, hit the jazz lounges of Braamfontein, or catch a football match at Emirates Airline Park, where Nelson Mandela famously donned the Springbok jersey at the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.

Wherever you go, it’s impossible to ignore the city’s turbulent past, but rather than shy away from the pain of the apartheid era, Johannesburg’s residents shine the spotlight on their shared history; the homes of Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi have been reimagined as museums and an old prison now hosts the country’s Constitutional Court.

An hour’s drive northwest, venture even further back in time at the Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage Site home to 40 per cent of the world’s early hominid fossils.

EMIRATES / DESTINATION / 79

MARBLE RESTAURANT

VIEW RESTAURANT

Showcasing South Africa’s love affair with the grill, Marble is renowned for its wood-fired cuisine.

In an elegant dining room with views over Rosebank, everything from crayfish to quail, steak and strawberries gets the flame-grilled treatment at the hands of chef David Higgs. marble.restaurant

From its lofty vantage point in the Four Seasons, View delivers jaw-dropping Johannesburg vistas – but the scenes on the plate are just as captivating.

The tasting menu updates local ingredients in dishes such as gemsbok (antelope) tartare and eucalyptus-smoked lamb. viewrestaurant.co.za

THE SAXON HOTEL, VILLAS & SPA

FAIRLAWNS BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Set amid 10 acres of lush indigenous gardens in the leafy suburb of Sandhurst, The Saxon promises award-winning dining.

The hotel’s contemporary suites and ultra-luxe villas marry African artefacts with soothing neutral tones and Eastern accents. saxon.co.za

A stately chateau in the heart of Sandton, Fairlawns boasts a bistro, bar, Balinesestyle spa, and 10 acres of manicured grounds. With names such as The Scottish, The Florentine and The French Provencal, the individually decorated suites deliver Old World opulence. fairlawns.co.za

ARTY MABONENG

TOUR OF SOWETO

Spend the day exploring the arty hub of Maboneng, a revitalised neighbourhood on the eastern edge of the central business district. Browse the cutting-edge galleries, cafes and chic boutiques and don’t miss Market on Main, a weekly food and design fair held every Sunday in the Arts on Main complex.

Explore Soweto, former host of the FIFA World Cup, by foot, bicycle or tuk-tuk with Lebo’s Soweto Tours.

Take in the suburb’s street art, the Nelson Mandela Museum, and Vilakazi Street, the only street in the world that’s been home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners (Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu).

MOYO For a soulful dining experience in Melrose Arch, take a seat on the terrace of Moyo, home to live bands and an intrepid African menu. Dine on Moroccan tagines and Mozambican prawns, or opt for a more adventurous option, from chargrilled ostrich, to the crocodile tail pie. moyo.co.za

54 ON BATH With a sleek monochrome colour palette, smart meeting rooms, and a cool lap pool with views over Johannesburg, Rosebank’s 54 on Bath strikes a balance between business and pleasure. Unwind in the Level Four restaurant, sparkling bar, or well-equipped fitness centre. tsogosun.com/ 54-on-bath

BRUSH UP ON HISTORY For a stirring reminder of Johannesburg’s history, visit the Apartheid Museum in Gold Reef City. Then, take a 10-minute drive north to Constitution Hill, the site of the former prison that housed Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi, now a living museum and the home of South Africa’s Constitutional Court.

80 / EMIRATES / UAE SMART GUIDE

Be smart!

NATIONALITIES THAT CAN USE UAE SMART GATES

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.

3

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.

*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

82 / EMIRATES / ROUTE MAP

flydubai Kozhikode: three times weekly service starts 1 February Naples: daily service starts 4 June

A380 ROUTES

NEW ROUTES

Routes shown are as of time of going to press

*Suspended

**Seasonal service

GLOBAL ROUTES

Emirates Amsterdam / Auckland / Bangkok / Barcelona / Beijing / Birmingham / Brisbane / Casablanca / Christchurch / Copenhagen / Dusseldorf / Frankfurt / Guangzhou / Hamburg / Hong Kong / Houston / Jeddah / Johannesburg / Kuala Lumpur / Kuwait / London / Los Angeles / Madrid / Manchester / Mauritius / Melbourne / Milan / Moscow / Mumbai / Munich / New York / Nice / Osaka / Paris / Perth / Prague / Rome / San Francisco / SĂŁo Paulo / Seoul / Shanghai / Singapore / Sydney / Taipei / Tokyo / Toronto / Vienna / Washington, DC / Zurich

Emirates route

flydubai route

TRAVEL TO ADDITIONAL DESTINATIONS WITH OUR CODESHARE PARTNERS

With 23 codeshare partners in 26 countries (21 airlines and an air/rail codeshare arrangement with France’s SNCF/TGV Air and Italy’s Trenitalia), Emirates has even more flight options, effectively expanding its network by over 300 destinations.

Visit emirates.com for full details on our travel partners

EMIRATES / ROUTE MAP / 83

Routes shown are as of time of going to press

*Suspended

**Seasonal service

84 / EMIRATES / ROUTE MAP

MIDDLE EAST

Emirates route

AFRICA flydubai route

EMIRATES / ROUTE MAP / 85

ASIA & PACIFIC

EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA

**Seasonal service

86 / EMIRATES / ROUTE MAP

AMERICAS

Routes shown are as of time of going to press

EMIRATES SKYCARGO

Freighter destinations

88 / EMIRATES / FLEET

Emirates Fleet

Our fleet of 274 aircraft includes 261 passenger aircraft and 13 SkyCargo aircraft

AIRBUS A380-800

109 IN FLEET All aircraft

up to 4,000+

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

20+ aircraft

BOEING 777-300ER

139 IN FLEET All aircraft

up to 4,000+

Up to 354-428 passengers. Range: 14,594km. L 73.9m x W 64.8m 100+ aircraft

For more information: emirates.com/ourfleet

BOEING 777-200LR

10 IN FLEET All aircraft

3,000+

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

EMIRATES / FLEET / 89 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 2 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

2,000+

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.

Aircraft numbers accurate at the time of going to press

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

TODD PHILLIPS’

GUIDE TO LA Pipped at the Oscars? No problem. For the Producer of A Star is Born, the filming location of Los Angeles revealed myriad musical delights INTERVIEW: EMMA COILER Los Angeles has some of the most famous performing venues in the world – many that were used in the movie. The Greek Theatre is super iconic, but we also used more intimate venues that hold a special place in the city’s heart like The Regent Theatre, a must visit. If you only have time for one, head to The Virgil in Santa Monica, where Jackson (Cooper) first sees Ally (Gaga) perform. It’s known for comedy nights now, but has this incredible throwback décor.

Jackson was, of course, a good old Arizona boy, so we had to have him living somewhere in LA that reflected that. We went deep into the woods of Calabasas, a city just north of Malibu. With its mountains, open spaces and big green parks, you wouldn’t imagine you were in LA. There are some beautiful little guesthouses tucked away in the hills; if you have been taking a vacation in LA, this is the perfect place to unwind afterwards.

We use The Short Stop bar in the movie and that’s a proper LA dive joint. It’s a cross

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

34.0522° N, 118.2437° W

between a cop bar and Dodgers fans bar as they use it when their team is playing.

You know what, it might be a little cliché – but you should eat and stay at The Beverly Hills Hotel. It was actually the first historic landmark in Beverly Hills and rightly so. Sitting around the pool, sunshine, and lunch in probably what is the world’s most iconic hotel – it really doesn’t get any more LA than that.

A location in the movie that tourists wouldn’t normally know about is Café Brass Monkey in Koreatown, which offers karaoke and exceptionally made cocktails. What’s not to love about that combination.?

It’s a couple of hours drive from LA, but Coachella features heavily in the movie.

Obviously Lady Gaga has headlined there, but the names who have headlined there over the years say it all. Eminem, Beyonce, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers... the list just goes on and on. If you are anywhere near the area in April, get in the car and just get yourself there.

Emirates operates a daily A380 service to Los Angeles