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Middle East Airlines News

Aircraft, Airliner, Airplane

Middle East airlines report rise in passenger demand

Airlines in the Middle East reported a 9.6 percent year-on-year increase in passenger demand in June 2024, according to the International Air Transport Association. Capacity at regional carriers rose 9.4 percent year on year, while the load factor rose marginally to nearly 80 percent. NewsletterGet the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week […]

Middle East carriers have hundreds of aircraft on order – and need pilots to fly them

Middle East airlines in race to recruit as pilot shortage bites

A shortage of pilots is threatening the ambitions of the Middle East’s growing aviation industry, analysts have warned, forcing airlines to bolster their recruitment efforts. The global industry will be short nearly 80,000 pilots by 2032, according to management consultancy Oliver Wyman. The Middle East is projected to account for up to 18,000 of that […]

Airlines profits coffee Emirates

Airline margins ‘wafer thin’, says IATA’s Willie Walsh

The profit global airlines make per passenger is only enough to buy a single espresso in a Dubai hotel coffee shop, according to Willie Walsh, the director general of the International Air Travel Association (IATA). Global airlines are expected to make $30.5 billion in profits this year, but margins remain “wafer thin”, Walsh told the […]

Almost all of Lebanon's visitors in the first quarter came from the Lebanese diaspora

Tourist numbers drop as Western visitors avoid Lebanon

Inbound tourism to Lebanon fell 13.5 percent year on year in the first three months of 2024, mainly as a result of Western tourists staying away, data released by the country’s Ministry of Tourism shows. It is the latest indication of damage to Lebanon’s post-crisis economy caused by the ongoing border conflict between Hezbollah and […]

Family boards an aeroplane. There are 213 airlines operating in the Middle East, says the OAG report

Qatar dazzles as Middle East aviation picks up pace

The Middle East’s aviation sector is growing at twice the global rate and is expected to offer 257 million passenger seats this year, according to a new report. Not so long ago major airlines viewed the Middle East as a place to get cheap fuel on their way from Europe to South East Asia. Now […]

Visitor numbers to Lebanon for the first 10 months of 2023 were up 21% on 2022 but there is currently 'no significant traffic' from the West

Beirut airport arrivals drop as Westerners stay away

The daily arrival rate at Lebanon’s only functioning international airport is down by 4 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year, according to Marwan Haber, the head of Middle East Airline’s (MEA) commercial division. Speaking at the Horeca hospitality conference in Beirut on Tuesday Haber said 95 percent of arrivals were […]

A closed Bank of Beirut branch in Beirut, Lebanon. Some private banks could be forced into liquidation by the government's debt plan

The banking blame game stifling Lebanon’s IMF deal

Lebanon’s proposed International Monetary Fund deal, agreed two years ago and designed to put the country on the road to recovery, seems no closer to realisation. One of the key stumbling points is reform of the banking sector. The combined liabilities of the country’s banks amount to more than three times the size of Lebanon’s […]

Abu Dhabi hopes the air corridor for perishable goods such as fresh fruit will improve the UAE's place in the global food supply chain

Air corridor for Abu Dhabi aims to support food security

Abu Dhabi is planning to establish an air corridor for perishable goods in a bid to develop new trade routes and support the UAE’s food security efforts. Etihad Cargo, Abu Dhabi Airports and Abu Dhabi Food Hub – Kezad have signed a tri-party memorandum of understanding. Abu Dhabi Food Hub is the country’s first dedicated […]