English football fans in Dubai are booking up private jets for the World Cup, in hopes of taking it home.
Property owners in Dubai are reportedly shifting to short-term rentals rather than the usual annual leases in preparation for fans flocking to the region for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
According to Gulf News, a number of properties have been placed under short-stay listings in Dubai. Industry experts believe the demand for such units is expected to rise due to regional tourism generated from the major sporting event.
“We’ve seen more activity within short-term rentals, with more supply coming to the market as some longer-term landlords opt to switch to the short-term model to benefit from increasing occupancy rates and higher net yields,” said Jean-Pierre Mondalek, CEO of houza.com, told Gulf News.
According to the media outlet, this is the second consecutive year Dubai sees a demand for short-stay units. Last year’s spike in demand was attributed to Expo 2020 Dubai.
Market sources told the news outlet that this year’s increase will range between 15%-to-25% by December, in comparison to current rates.
Residential rents in Dubai have already witnessed an increase of more than 20% throughout the fiscal year ending in July.
Beyond Dubai, Sharjah amended its policies on short-stay rentals to cater to fans wanting to stay in the UAE until the end of the year, after the World Cup ends.
“Sharjah landlords can really cash in if they play this well – the regulator has ensured that the quality keeps up to expected international standards,” an estate agent told Gulf News.
Private jets
Meanwhile, English football fans in Dubai are booking up private jets for the World Cup, in hopes of taking it home, The National reported on Monday.
The report states that there are bookings for a 64-seat business-class passenger VIP jet at the cost of AED 6,500 on 18 December, the day of the World Cup final.
“We have sold out the whole flight for the final, which is great, and three quarters for the flight for the semi-final,” said Amy Spicer, managing partner at ME Jets, told the UAE media outlet.
Beyond the luxurious experience, the flight option will also save fans flying between two neighbouring countries from waiting time at the airport. The flights will depart four hours before every match and return three hours after they end.
There is already a high demand for private jets among World Cup fans in Dubai as flight bookings to Doha continue to soar. In Europe alone, there has been a 400% spike in demand for flights since January.
DC Aviation Al Futtaim (DCAF) said earlier this month that available aircrafts will range from an affordable four-seater Cessna Citation Mustang to the light jet eight-seater Pilatus PC-12, the midsize jet nine-seater Bombardier Challenger 604.
In May, Qatar Airways along with other Gulf airlines agreed to launch match day shuttle flights between Doha and several regional cities. This came following the signing of a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the GCC carriers.
This means football fans within the region will not have to stay in Qatar to attend football matches as daily flights will allow for easy on-the-day transport. There will also be a no check-in baggage policy to ease journeys.
FlyDubai will operate 30 daily return flights between Dubai and Doha, as 24 rotating flights will take place between Doha and Muscat under Oman Air.
Twenty Saudia return flights will take place in Riyadh and Jeddah, as 10 Kuwait Airways flights will rotate between Doha and Kuwait City.
