If Dubai hotels are constantly trying to outdo each other by reaching to stratospheric heights with their over-the-top amenities, one hotelier wants to win the battle once and for all: He’s literally taken his brand to the sky.
Starting Thursday, the party-hard Five Hotels & Resorts starts accepting bookings on its very own 16-passenger private jet, promising that the entertainment will begin before you even get to Dubai. Flights aren’t limited to hotel guests, though. Anyone can book the plane for a trip of up to 12 hours.
This isn’t the stuffy corporate jet seen on Succession, where people whisper about contingency plans and offer talking points. This plane is made for boozy celebrations and out-of-your-seat dancing: Its LED lights can make the entire cabin glow purple or whatever color you’d like.
“We’ve started thinking of ourselves as an entertainment company,” says Kabir Mulchandani, Five Global Holdings’ chairman and founder, who personally owns the plane. The group’s first hotel, Five Palm Jumeirah, is already known locally as one of the biggest party hotels in the city. It regularly hosts star DJs for beach parties, and guests can drive its supercar right into the hotel’s nightclub—for a fee of 10,000 dirhams ($2,723).
A select number of hotels own their own aircraft, but for logistical purposes, not for partying: Luxury African safari operators have fleets of small planes to reach extremely remote destinations, while some in the Maldives operate planes to bring guests to outlying islands. Luxury resort Aurora Anguilla owns a jet to offer quicker passage to guests from South Florida or New York City, and it’s also used to import necessary items to its namesake island, where local purchasing is limited. Meanwhile, hotels such as Aman and Four Seasons have offered private-jet trips, but they are excursions of a few weeks at a time, rather than simply a mode of transportation, with logistics arranged by third-party operators.
Trips on the Five plane will cost about $13,000 to $14,000 per hour of flight time, not including various relocation costs, which would mean about $195,000 for a round trip between London and Dubai. At about $12,000 per person on a full flight, it’s roughly equivalent to a first-class ticket on Emirates Airlines.
“For the type of aircraft, considering that it has a VIP arrangement inside, I’d say it’s a very good price,” said Dominique Bousquet, team manager at private-jet charter firm Welojets. The cost positions it between an Airbus with a larger cabin—which is offered for $15,000 to $20,000 an hour—and a smaller Gulfstream or Bombardier jet offered for $12,000 to $14,000 per hour, said Christopher Marich, co-founder of MySky, a software company for business aviation companies.
The private-jet service is the latest expansion beyond hotels for the Five brand, which was formed in 2017. This year, the company opened a recording studio at its Five Palm Jumeirah hotel and started a record label in partnership with Warner Music Group. And Mulchandani says the next step will be a branded yacht for massive offshore parties. Again, a different vibe than cruises already offered by luxury hotel brands such as Ritz-Carlton.
The aircraft, called 9H-FIVE—the “H is Hotel in the phonetic alphabet used by pilots—will be operated by Zurich-based Comlux. It’s the first of the new ACJ TwoTwenty aircraft model to be delivered by Airbus SAS and was flown to Geneva last week to be shown off at a private-jet conference, Ebace.
Mulchandani says he came up with the idea for buying the plane during COVID-19’s lockdown era, when he saw demand for private jets boom. “I was flying a lot of that time, talking to people in various terminals,” he says. Once they experienced private aviation, he says, they wouldn’t go back to traveling another way. And that prediction is largely holding up: In the US, the number of private-jet flights dipped by 4.6 percent in the first quarter, to 1.26 million takeoffs and landings, but bookings are still way above pre-COVID numbers.
Mulchandani says he wasn’t expecting to make money on the plane when he made a handshake deal for the purchase in August 2021 and signed a contract a few months later. First and foremost, he says, it was a marketing tool for the brand. And he and his company can use it when it isn’t booked. But in some ways, Mulchandani had good timing: He says he locked in fuel prices for five years below the current market price. He wouldn’t disclose how much he paid for the jet, but he says market value for the plane is $80 million to $85 million.
The plane needs to fly about 200 hours a year to break even, Mulchandani says. That’s less time in the air than most private jets log, says Matteo Atti, chief marketing officer of VistaJet Ltd., a leading global aviation charter company. VistaJet’s planes are usually used 800 to 1,000 hours per year.
Leisure and party travel is a tiny percentage of overall demand for private jets, which gives Five a niche, Atti says. ”This type of category of planes is trying to address a market that was not explicitly targeted before,” he says. “If they can make a name for themselves as a party plane, I am sure they can get a few flights in.”
After this, Mulchandani has his sights set even higher. Eventually, he wants to take the party into outer space. After all, people taking leisure trips to the moon are going to need a place to stay.
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Arabian Saluki Beauty Contest at ADIHEX 2024: A celebration of ancestral elegance
The Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) announce the return of the prestigious Arabian Saluki Beauty Contest, a unique initiative aimed at highlighting the significance of purebred hunting dogs and fostering a connection between the new generation and their rich ancestral heritage.
Under the esteemed patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the Emirates Falconers’ Club (EFC), this iconic event is scheduled from 31st August to 8th September, 2024, at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi, celebrating the blending of deep Emirati cultural traditions with cutting-edge innovation and technology across 11 diverse sectors.
A highlight of this year’s event is the Arabian Saluki Beauty Contest. One of the world’s oldest and most revered dog breeds, the Arabian Saluki stands as a symbol of wild hunting and desert traditions in the Middle East. Known for its grace, speed, and intelligence, this distinctive breed has been a faithful companion to the Bedouin people for over 5,000 years, serving as both a hunter and guardian. The Saluki’s agility and loyalty have made it an integral part of hunting and racing traditions, especially within the Arabian Peninsula.
The Arabian Saluki Centre was established in Abu Dhabi in 2001 alongside the Emirates Falconers’ Club, marking the first facility of its kind in the Arabian Gulf region and the Middle East, to revive the tradition of desert hunting using Saluki dogs, a cherished aspect of desert heritage.
ADIHEX was the first cultural event in the Arab region to honour the bond between Man and his loyal companion, which has been by our side for thousands of years. The Arabian Saluki Beauty Contest is a unique initiative designed to promote interest in purebred hunting dogs and to strengthen the new generation’s connection to their ancestral heritage and traditions and to serve as a testament to this unique bond.
With its origin steeped in history, this fascinating dog’s name is believed to be derived from the city of Saluk in Yemen or the Bani Saluk tribe. Renowned for its endurance and elegance, the Saluki can reach speeds up to 75 kilometres per hour, maintaining this pace over distances up to almost five kilometres. The breed is cherished for its unique physical characteristics, including a slender body, deep chest, long legs, and two distinct coat types: ‘Al Hoss’ (smooth) and ‘Aryash’ (feathery).
The Arabian Saluki Beauty Contest, held during ADIHEX, is more than a beauty pageant. It celebrates the essence of the Saluki by focusing on the dog’s personality, skills, reflexes, and sensory response. Unlike typical dog competitions, this contest evaluates the Saluki’s breed characteristics, behaviour, overall appearance, structure, hunting skills, and psychological traits. Judging criteria include the dog’s gait, head, eyes, mouth, ears, coat, colour, and general impression.
The Arabian Saluki Beauty Contest is an integral part of ADIHEX’s mission to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the UAE and the wider Arab world. This contest not only showcases the beauty and abilities of the Saluki but also plays a vital role in raising awareness about the importance of preserving traditional hunting practices and the Saluki’s role in them.
This year’s competition will feature four categories: ‘Smooth (Hoss) Males,’ ‘Feathery (Aryash) Males,’ ‘Smooth (Hoss) Females,’ and ‘Feathery (Aryash) Females.’ The event is scheduled to take place during ADIHEX 2024, and, per the rules, participants must ensure their dogs are healthy, microchipped, and vaccinated.
The Saluki’s enduring legacy is celebrated through this competition, which draws participants and spectators from across the region and beyond. It provides a platform for Saluki enthusiasts to connect, share their passion, and celebrate a breed that has remained virtually unchanged for millennia, reflecting the diverse hunting landscapes and traditions of the Middle East.
Aside from the alluring Arabian Saluki Beauty Contest, as the largest edition of ADIHEX to date, the 21st edition will showcase thousands of brands across 11 diverse sectors, offering a dynamic platform for new business opportunities and captivating audiences of all ages. This exhibition celebrates the thrill of an adventurous outdoor lifestyle, allowing visitors to explore falconry, hunting, equestrian sports, veterinary products, fishing and marine sports, environmental preservation, cultural heritage, arts and crafts, and the latest in technology and innovation across all the represented sectors.
Sharjah Ruler directs allocation of beach for women in Khorfakkan’s Al Luluyah area
H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has ordered the allocation of a 500-metre beach for women in Al Luluyah area of Khorfakkan, providing them with complete privacy. The project will include a service building that includes a cafe, a medical clinic and a prayer room for women. His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah also directed the construction of a pedestrian bridge linking Al Bardi 6 and Al Batha areas in Khorfakkan, to facilitate the movement of citizens, and modifications will be implemented on the internal roads in the Hayawa area.