Abu Dhabi skies light up with UAE national colours

Abu Dhabi - Emirati Sarah Al Bloushi said: "It was a great show! My favourite move was the ... vertical drop of the jet from high up in the sky to almost the ground."

It was literally a show-stopper. The moment the first aircraft's roar reverberated from the skyscrapers of the Abu Dhabi Corniche, strollers, cyclists, diners and even motorists stopped to watch the 20-minute air show.
The clear evening sky was perfect for Al Fursan aerobatic pilots to display their skills. On the blue canvas of the sky, seven jets appeared at 4.20pm on Tuesday in a perfect arrow formation. Decked up in the UAE national colours, they were loaded with red, green, black and white smoke, which they released as pilots performed some of the most difficult manoeuvres in aerobatics.
Emirati Sarah Al Bloushi said: "It was a great show! My favourite move was the ... vertical drop of the jet from high up in the sky to almost the ground."
Indian resident, Ameen Abdul Kader, said: "For one week now, I've seen them practising over Abu Dhabi, but I must say, the show with the smoke and the UAE flag colours looked so much more impressive."
Al Fursan prepared at least a dozen different manoeuvres for the two-day show that lit up the Capital's sky with the national colours on November 30 and December 1.
The show marked the beginning of the National Day festivities. Later in the evening, live concerts of Emirati and Arab singers entertained audiences at the Hazza bin Zayed stadium and Shaikh Zayed Heritage Festival ground in Al Wathba.
As the night began to settle, cars decorated in the national colours and photos of the leaders began to appear on the corniche road. One of the cars sported both the UAE and Romanian flags.
"We've been living in the UAE for the past seven years and we regard it as our home. We are originally from Romania and December 1 is the Romanian National Day," explained Alina Pop and her husband, Cristi.
They drove down all the way from the Khalifa City to the Abu Dhabi Corniche specially to watch the first night of fireworks.
Full details of National Day events in Abu Dhabi are available on http://abudhabievents.ae.
silvia@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi