The December/January issue looked at the Gulf states’ strategy for building their flight hub status.

The Gulf states were continuing their efforts to woo passengers back to the region following the acquisition of long-range Boeing 747-400s by some European and Asian airlines in the late 1980s, which had put the brakes on refuelling stops in the likes of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

As our consumer editor Alex McWhirter reported, new airlines, aircraft and upgraded airports were part of the strategy. Alex said at the time, “It’s hard to see how the Gulf carriers can fail.”

Indeed, Emirates London Heathrow to Dubai is now the third most lucrative flight in the world.

Speaking of which, the Gulf state of Qatar also made an appearance in the issue as we focused on its “fiercely competitive corporate scene” and construction boom. Business in the country had just returned to normal following the Iraq War.

Elsewhere, in a feature on how to cope with stress, we highlighted some ways to overcome professional burnout, which was endemic at the time (and probably still is), with 20 per cent of workers reporting that they felt stressed or extremely stressed by work. Way before apps such as Headspace came on the scene, we advised, “Learn how to meditate, it’s portable and you can do it while you are in transit from one location to another.”

HIGHLIGHTS

Surf’s up

The growing popularity of mobile phones was causing unforeseen issues as people became increasingly glued to them. Bizarre to think now, but “surfing the net” (as we termed it in our Upfront section) while behind the wheel only became illegal in December 2003.

Hitting new heights

We shared readers’ tips on how to get a flight upgrade. Being tall seemed to be one of the most successful factors. Another pearl of wisdom? “Look the check-in attendant in the eye, not the chest.” An easier proposition for those lofty flyers…

In for the short haul

A news piece reported on Duo, a new budget airline that “stressed value for money rather than peanut prices”. A nice idea, but it turns out that, actually, what the people really want is peanut prices. Duo lasted from May 2003 until June 2004.