Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Transport

Aviation and transport news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

The AD Ports agreement was signed in the presence of Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and UAE minister of industry and advanced technology Sultan Al Jaber

AD Ports to break ground on Egypt logistics park this year

State-controlled AD Ports Group and Egypt government-backed Suez Canal Economic Zone have signed a 50-year renewable deal to develop and operate a 20 sq km logistics and industrial park near the coastal city of Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea. The Abu Dhabi-based ports operator will develop, construct, finance, operate and manage the industrial and logistics zone in […]

Kuwait's civil aviation authority said it had fired Kuwait Airways' CEO due to 'repeated failure to comply with aviation safety rules and regulations'

Kuwait Airways fires CEO after authority disapproval

The CEO of state-owned Kuwait Airways, Ahmad Al-Kreebani, has been fired and replaced by Abdulwahab Al-Shatti. Al-Shatti took over the job on Sunday, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Kreebani’s dismissal after two years in the job followed a decision by the country’s civil aviation authority to withdraw its approval for his […]

Greece aims to attract more visitors throughout the year, signing a deal with Emirates that includes a codeshare with Aegean Airlines to expand travel options

Emirates signs agreement with Greek air carrier Aegean

Greece has signed an outline deal with Dubai’s Emirates that includes a codeshare agreement with Greek air carrier Aegean, the country’s Tourism Ministry said on Friday, as it seeks to attract more tourists all year round. The codeshare agreement will expand travellers’ access to popular destinations, including the islands of Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes, the […]

Oman wants to increase the value of its logistics sector to more than $90 billion

Oman to invest $260m in logistics to spur growth

Oman is expanding its logistics sector with a series of projects this year worth $260 million to improve its facilities and spur growth in the GCC’s second-smallest economy by GDP. The government-led plan was made public this week to mark Oman 2025 Logistics Day. The investment will mainly go into developing free trade zones, airports […]

Runway maintenance at DXB. The vast site will be up for redevelopment once Dubai's new airport opens

Dubai’s DXB site to become prime real estate opportunity

Dubai International Airport will become one of the emirate’s most valuable real estate assets once operations shift to the new Dubai World Central airport within the next decade. The DXB site, located in the densely developed Al Garhoud district and spanning 2,900 hectares (7,200 acres), will eventually cease operations as Dubai consolidates air traffic at […]

Inside an Airbus factory. Flyadeal's CEO bemoaned the fact that the company had a backlog of 8,720 aircraft

Expect commercial jet shortages until 2030, warns Flyadeal CEO

The head of Saudi low-cost carrier Flyadeal has warned that deliveries of in-demand commercial jets to the aviation industry will be severely constrained until the end of the decade. Flyadeal CEO Steven Greenway told AGBI that despite having eight Airbus A320 aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2025, the airline is planning on receiving only five.  […]

Mawani partners with Alissa Universal Motors and Sultan Logistics for two new logistics parks in Dammam's King Abdulaziz Port

Saudi’s King Abdulaziz Port set for logistics overhaul

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has signed off on two new projects that will bring SAR 500 million ($134 million) in investment to Dammam’s King Abdulaziz Port in eastern province. In the larger of the two projects, worth SAR 300 million, Mawani has formed a partnership with Alissa Universal Motors to build a logistics park […]

Air cargo demand in the Middle East saw a March decline, down 3.2 percent year on year. A contrast to last year's surge caused by Red Sea shipping disruptions

European slump hits Middle East air cargo demand

Demand for air cargo in the Middle East declined year on year in March, bucking a global growth trend, with the region’s European trade route the hardest hit. New monthly data from industry trade body the International Air Transport Association (IATA), showed that total global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTK), rose 4.4 percent year […]

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum at Airbus headquarters. Emirates has 240 Boeing passenger planes and 61 Airbus A350-900s on order

Sheikh Ahmed: China’s Boeing rejects won’t fly for Emirates

Emirates Airline’s chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum has downplayed speculation that the carrier could buy Boeing planes originally destined for China. Speaking at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai on Tuesday, Sheikh Ahmed said Emirates was actively exploring options to expand its fleet, but the Boeing aircraft – ordered by Chinese carriers but […]

Flydubai operates a fleet of 88 Boeing 737s but wants to expand into longer-haul routes with 787 aircraft

Boeing delays are hampering Flydubai expansion, says CEO

Delays in the delivery of Flydubai’s first wide-body aircraft from Boeing are hampering the carrier’s expansion into long-haul routes and it may seek compensation, its CEO has told AGBI. The low-cost carrier is waiting for 30 Boeing 787-9 twin-aisle planes, part of an $11 billion deal announced at the 2023 Dubai Airshow.  The first deliveries […]

Antonoaldo Neves, CEO of Etihad Airways, told Arabian Travel Market that US tariffs had not yet had an impact

‘I expect more Europeans to come’: Etihad chief shrugs off tariffs

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways is not seeing any effects from the turmoil caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, its CEO Antonoaldo Neves told Reuters on Monday, while adding it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the levies. Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs on dozens of US trading partners this month […]

Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas (left) at the 2023 singing of an order with Boeing for 72 aircraft

Riyadh Air willing to buy Boeing planes cancelled by China

Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas has said that the Saudi startup carrier would be ready to buy Boeing aircraft destined for Chinese airlines if they are not delivered due to the escalating trade war between the United States and China. Boeing is looking to resell potentially dozens of planes locked out of China by tariffs […]

Oman Air has cut almost a quarter of its workforce, according to reports

Oman Air cuts a quarter of workforce after losses

Loss-making national airline Oman Air has let go of at least 900 people – equivalent to almost a quarter of its workforce – after posting yet another loss last year, newspapers including the Times of Oman reported. Of the 900, more than 500 are expatriates and the remaining 400 Omani nationals, Saeed bin Hamoud Al […]

A guest takes photos of a Tesla, displayed during the launch of the company's first showroom in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia electric vehicles

Saudi Arabia’s EV ambitions face ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma

Few of the car enthusiasts who attended Tesla’s launch in Riyadh last month arrived in electric vehicles.  Hundreds turned out for the much-heralded opening event in Riyadh, an indication that the furore around the Tesla brand and its owner Elon Musk has not crossed the Atlantic.  Despite this, public enthusiasm for electric vehicles (EVs) in […]

A high-speed train at Tangiers train station. Morocco's new line will connect Kenitra with Casablanca and Marrakech

Morocco launches 430km high-speed train project

Morocco has started construction of the Kenitra-Marrakech high-speed rail line in the capital city of Rabat. This phase will add 430 kilometres of high-speed rail connecting Kenitra (an industrial centre on the coast in north-western Morocco) to the country’s economic hub, Casablanca, and further south to the historic city of Marrakech, serving the airports of […]

AviLease CEO Edward O'Byrne (left) says the company now has $2.25bn to fund expansion

Saudi aircraft lessor AviLease secures $1.5bn credit facility

Saudi Public Investment Fund unit Aircraft Leasing Company (AviLease) has finalised a $1.5 billion credit facility to fund aircraft purchases and business expansion, a local newspaper reported. The three-year facility, which was oversubscribed, garnered interest from 25 international and domestic banks, Arab News reported, citing AviLease CEO Edward O’Byrne. “Together with our existing revolver of […]

Flag carrier Oman Air posted a OR72 million loss in 2024

Oman Air posts 2024 loss while airport passenger numbers rise

Oman Airports, the company managing Muscat International Airport and three others, posted a 15 percent increase in net income last year on more passenger throughput, a local newspaper reported. At the same time, national carrier Oman Air reported a OR72 million ($187 million) loss, before interest and taxes, for 2024. The airline has made an […]

Boeing's factory in Kansas. Chinese customers are declining aircraft deliveries due to the ongoing trade conflict with the US

China’s Boeing boycott opens doors for Gulf carriers

China’s escalating trade standoff with the US is reverberating through the global aviation industry, offering opportunities for Gulf airlines, as Chinese carriers refuse to accept US-built Boeing aircraft. Speaking on a first quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg confirmed that several Chinese customers have declined to accept new aircraft due to retaliatory […]

Aramex vehicle for shipment and delivery, Aramex co is logistics company delivering to any destination worldwide, internat

CEO of Dubai’s logistics company Aramex resigns

Othman Al-Jeda, group CEO of Dubai-listed logistics company Aramex, has resigned, the company said in a filing to the Dubai Financial Market on Thursday. Othman resigned “for personal reasons”, the company said, adding that the board of directors has appointed current chief financial officer Nicolas Sibuet as acting group CEO effective April 24.  Nicolas joined […]

Saudia will buy up to 20 A330 aircraft from Airbus

Saudia signs Airbus deal for up to 20 wide-body aircraft

Saudia, Saudi Arabia’s national airline, has finalised a new agreement with European manufacturer Airbus to buy up to 20 new wide-body A330neo aircraft. Of these, 10 are firm orders for Flyadeal, the group’s budget airline, the carrier said in a statement. The delivery of these aircraft is set to start in 2027, with the last […]