The International Air Transport Association (IATA) renewed its call for government relief measures as the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in MENA deepen. The region’s airlines could lose $24 billion of passenger revenue compared to 2019. That is $5 billion more than was expected at the beginning of the month; job losses in aviation and related industries could grow to 1.2 million. That is half of the region’s 2.4 million aviation-related employment. Previous estimate was 0.9 million. Full-year 2020 traffic is expected to plummet by 51 per cent compared to 2019. Previous estimate was a fall of 39 per cent. GDP supported by aviation in the region could fall by $66 billion from $130 billion. Previous estimate was $51 billion. These estimates are based on a scenario of severe travel restrictions lasting for three months, with a gradual lifting of restrictions in domestic markets, followed by regional and intercontinental. “Airlines in the Middle East continue to be battered by the impact of COVID-19. Passenger traffic has all but ground to a halt and revenue streams have evaporated. No amount of cost cutting will save airlines from a liquidity crisis. The collapse of air transport will have devastating effects on countries’ economies and jobs. And in a region where aviation is a key pillar of many nations’ economies the effect will be much worse. Direct financial support is essential to maintain jobs and ensure airlines can remain viable businesses,” said Muhammad Al Bakri, Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, IATA. Some of the impacts at national level include: Saudi Arabia- 35 million fewer passengers resulting in a US $7.2 billion revenue loss, risking 287,500 jobs and US $17.9 …

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi announced that it has received its Air Operating Certificate (AOC), which allows it to start operating from Abu Dhabi as the fifth UAE national airline. Securing the AOC highlights that Air Arabia Abu Dhabi has all the professional capabilities, adheres to all safety regulations needed for aircraft operations and has proven fit-to-fly ability following the completion of rigorous inspections by the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will continue to work closely with the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) to finalise the launch date as market conditions improve and skies are open again. It was formed following the agreement by Etihad Airways and Air Arabia to establish an independent joint venture company that will operate as a low-cost passenger airline with the Abu Dhabi International Airport as its hub. The new carrier will complement the services of Etihad Airways from Abu Dhabi and cater to the growing low-cost travel market segment in the region. HE Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of GCAA, said, “The UAE is a global air travel hub, supported by state-of-the-art aviation infrastructure and we continue to provide our residents and visitors with multiple options to stay connected and explore the world. Today’s announcement serves as another testament to the investments made by the UAE in strengthening its aviation sector and we look forward to the launch of Air Arabia Abu Dhabi in due course and the future growth opportunities for the UAE Aviation Sector.” Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “We are pushing ahead with our plans to resume normal flying and once we have, Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will ideally serve those who …

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) hosted a virtual meeting with His Excellency Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism, and leaders from across the tourism industry, this week. During the meeting, WTTC shared data, revealing the potential global economic impact of COVID-19 on Travel & Tourism. WTTC Members’ high-profile CEOs discussed the impact of COVID-19 and the decisive action needed to protect over 75 million livelihoods that have been put at risk across the sector. The roundtable was chaired by WTTC President and CEO, Gloria Guevara, and H.E. Al-Khateeb, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism and Chairperson of this year’s G20 Tourism Track. As one of the world’s most labour-intensive sectors, supporting 330 million jobs worldwide and one in four new jobs created on the planet in 2019, tourism must be at the heart of global response and recovery efforts. Latest research from WTTC shows the COVID-19 pandemic could result in a loss of up to $2.1 trillion in Travel & Tourism GDP to the world economy. H.E. Al-Khateeb stressed his commitment to working proactively with WTTC in coordinating with the private sector and shaping global crisis response measures to ensure travel and tourism is at the forefront of recovery efforts. H.E. Al Khateeb, said, “The challenge ahead lies in two phases: first in weathering the impact of COVID-19 on people’s lives and businesses and second in rebuilding from it.” He added, “As we work together to outline solutions for the private sector, we look forward to building a collective response for all types of businesses involved – from global conglomerates to the many micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that help make tourism a thriving and innovative industry. Guaranteeing …

In a show of friendly competitiveness, over 20 travel agencies hit the pitch as part of the recently held Amadeus Cricket Championship 2020, an event organised by Amadeus Gulf taking place this year in Muscat, Oman. The tournament involved 12 corporate teams and was attended by over 200 travel agents and their families. It was an exciting day of cricket with corporate teams battling hard on the pitch to be crowned champions of the tournament and to capture the honours of best bowler, best batsman, and more. Team Gladiators took home this year’s victory. Amadeus Gulf has held similar tournaments for the last several years to support a spirit of camaraderie and cooperation in what is one of the world’s fastest-growing travel markets. Today Amadeus’ solutions help connect over 1.6 billion people a year to local travel providers in over 190 countries.

Special interview with Stewart Smith, Commercial Director, MEA for Sojern based on Sojern data collected on April 20, 2020. How fast can Dubai receive inbound tourists after the COVID-19?Time will tell. We aren’t yet seeing enough signs of recovery but consumer travel demand is as unique as each consumer. Post quarantine, people will be looking to get out of the house in a variety of ways, so the priority for travel marketers is to ensure they get their messages in front of them while they’re making decisions. Which countries will start travelling first?Sojern’s data shows that domestic travel will bounce back first. When markets stabilise and we have successfully ‘flattened the curve’ globally, international travel will pick up again. Additionally, we anticipate recovery will fluctuate depending on the impact the coronavirus had in each region. At a global level this will surely apply, APAC may open up first, followed by MEA, EU and then the US and Latin America. Some of APAC has been ahead of the world in their vigilance, so we expect that APAC will be the first region to recover. Already, China’s situation is largely under control and they are able to schedule domestic flights to fly travellers throughout the country. Of course just having planes in the air does not qualify as freedom of movement until countries start reducing travel restrictions. Every country is eager to remove their travel restrictions, but that decision will be entirely influenced by our success in combating the virus.  What impact will it have on both inbound and outbound from UAE?Looking at the composition of travellers searching for trips to the UAE in the last 14 days, the biggest increase year-over-year is from …

Dubai Airports is working closely with its aviation and commercial partners and is planning for a gradual remobilisation once travel restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic are lifted. Under a business stabilisation framework, aviation partners, tenants and concessionaires have been provided with details of an assistance programme agreed by Dubai Airports. Dubai Airports has responded decisively to the COVID-19 crisis and is among the first airport operators to propose meaningful assistance to airline and commercial partners. The programme, which is applicable for the impacted period March 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020, includes waiving 100 per cent of minimum guarantees or equivalent fees for partners who have been required to cease trading due to the suspension of airport operations caused by the global pandemic. For partners that have maintained partial operations, other measures are in place to address the reduction in aviation activity, including rescheduling and other financial adjustments. “Flexibility is more important now than ever,” said Eugene Barry, Executive Vice President of Commercial at Dubai Airports. “Of paramount importance is that we protect and retain our aviation and business partnerships, which have been carefully built over a number of years, and ensure that our revenue and service drivers will be in a position to remobilise, in line with approvals from federal authorities. We have taken a number of unprecedented measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 to our own business, as well as those of our partners. By providing clarity and meaningful assistance to our business partners at this moment, we are confident that we will re-emerge to continue delivering the highest levels of assurance and service in a new commercial landscape, in which DXB and DWC will play …

ILTM has commissioned a white paper to underpin the true value of luxury travel to small, medium sized and large businesses across the world. The report by Barton Consulting brings clarity to the numbers of people employed – 90 per cent of whom are working within small businesses or individual operations – and the contribution high net worth (HNW) travellers make to every sector. The report is further explained in a podcast entitled ‘Luxury Travel’s true impact on business and employment.’ Alison Gilmore, Portfolio Director, ILTM, says, “The challenge of COVID-19 has brought the realities of our world into sharp focus and none more so than our international inter-connectivity and dependence on the freedom to travel. The travel industry is one of the greatest catalysts for this globally-linked system and is also a far greater mechanism for the dispersal of wealth to local economies than has been recognised until now.” In the podcast, the report’s author, Barton’s Winston Chesterfield, explains how so few can make such a big economic impact by spreading their wealth to benefit local economies, communities, individuals and businesses. He explores how these individuals will be the first to kick start the industry post COVID-19 and why the wealth they control is vital to #keeptheworldmoving. “We wanted to contribute to the luxury travel sector and provide some new insight, facts and figures that we hope will give comfort to those whose livelihood has suffered as a result of the COVID-19 shutdown of this industry. When the time is right, we believe a new future will emerge and ILTM will be here as a catalyst, however long this journey takes,” added Gilmore.

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) is working closely with the Emirate’s Public Service Department (PSD), to create a certification programme, Deemed as the RAK ‘Stay Safe’ Hotel Certification, aimed at the Emirate’s hospitality providers. The certification process will be determined by a series of measures targeted at the various hotel departments and an official assessment, once in the recovery phase of the COVID-19 outbreak. The effort aims to boost confidence and rebuild trust in the destination’s tourism once the necessary travel restrictions are lifted. Measures will include a full sterilisation programme, conducted alongside the PSD, currently implementing the National Sterilization Program in the Emirate, as well as training on appropriate guest interactions, employee engagement, elevated property hygiene standards, and operational procedures to be actioned in the recovery phase. “Achievement of this certification will result in the hotels being endorsed by the relevant authorities, thereby supporting the public’s confidence in their offerings”, shared Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. The Authority’s four-step road to recovery places initial focus on the domestic market, followed by the GCC and wider Middle East, to then be extended to Asia and Europe. The first phase of recovery will see the launch of the UAE ‘Shortcation’ campaign, offering guests staying three nights at Ras Al Khaimah hotels, two complementary passes to attractions such as the Jais Adventure Peak and the Suwaidi Peal Farm. This will be introduced when the necessary travel restrictions are lifted and the federal authorities deem travel safe to proceed and will run in addition to the ‘Kids Go Free’ promotion across hospitality and dining sectors. These efforts alongside the RAK ‘Stay Safe’ Hotel Certification, aim to …

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for governments to work with the industry on confidence-boosting measures in the face of an anticipated slow recovery in demand for air travel. “Passenger confidence will suffer a double whammy even after the pandemic is contained—hit by personal economic concerns in the face of a looming recession on top of lingering concerns about the safety of travel. Governments and industry must be quick and coordinated with confidence-boosting measures,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. An IATA-commissioned survey of recent travelers found that 6 per cent anticipate a return to travel within one to two months of containment of the COVID-19 pandemic but 40 per cent indicate that they could wait six months or more; and 69 per cent indicated that they could delay a return to travel until their personal financial situation stabilises. Early indications of this cautious return-to-travel behaviour are seen in the domestic markets of China and Australia, where new coronavirus infection rates have fallen to very low levels: China- Domestic demand began to recover when the rate of new COVID-19 infections in China fell into single digits and rapidly headed towards zero (measured by new infections as a percentage of the seven-day moving average of total COVID-19 cases). While there was an early upswing from mid-February into the first week of March, the number of domestic flights plateaued at just over 40 per cent of pre-COVID-19 levels. Actual demand is expected to be significantly weaker as load factors on these flights are reported to be low. China accounts for some 24 per cent of all domestic passengers. Australia- Domestic demand continued to deteriorate even after the rate …

Arabian Travel Market’s (ATM) 2020 edition has been postponed due to COVID-19 and the next edition will be held from May 16 to 19, 2021. “In light of the changing global situation relating to the global pandemic, we have continued to monitor the impact it is having not just on our industry, but on society in general. Many meetings took place with the Dubai World Trade Centre and we reviewed other options to organise an event in the last quarter. However, after consultation with our key stakeholders and after listening to our industry, ultimately it became apparent that the best course of action, and with everyone’s best interests in mind, is to postpone the event to 2021,” said the organisers of ATM. The organisers added, “Therefore, Arabian Travel Market will now be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre in 2021, following the holy month of Ramadan and the Eid Al Fitr celebrations. Discussions took place at the highest level both internally and externally with local and federal government, partners, sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees who all endorsed our evaluation of the current situation and our decision to act once again, without delay.” “We are fully aware of the important role that ATM plays for industry professionals right across the Middle East region and beyond, and we believe it is our responsibility to deliver a safe and successful event when we are able to do so. The live show will be rescheduled to 2021, but until then we’ll keep you connected. We are firmly focused on delivering positive business and networking opportunities to the Middle East’s vast travel and tourism community and as such are excited to announce that we will …