Air travel industry in region weathers geopolitical storms: AACO Secretary-General

Dubai: The regional aviation sector has consistently demonstrated resilience in the face of numerous crises, including the ongoing conflicts involving Israel's military actions in both Gaza and Lebanon.

Abdul Wahab Teffaha, Secretary General of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation (AACO), said during the Aviation Future Week in Dubai that the resilient nature of the air travel industry can be attributed to its integration into daily life, contribution to economic growth, and job creation. AACO represents the interests of commercial airlines across the Arab world.

Teffaha, who has played a key role in developing the collective power of negotiations for the benefit of Arab airlines, told Gulf News, “The (geopolitical) tension that is happening now, which started a year ago, is localised and not across the Arab region. We hope that it stays localised and ends. Our business is building bridges between people, not breaking those bridges.”

Arab airline executives, including Royal Jordanian’s CEO Samer Majali, have said in the past that the year-long regional violence has posed significant challenges for the air transportation and tourism industry. Teffaha said, “Any geopolitical tension is a disaster—disaster for the people who are in the midst of that tension and disaster for all businesses, primarily aviation and tourism.”

But, visitors still travel to other parts of the Middle East. “This is not the perception that some people may have that I will avoid the entire Middle East region because of the unrest. We are hosting our annual conference in Jordan in two weeks, and the Northern part of Egypt is a lot less affected, if at all. And again, I say nobody should be affected to start with,” explained Teffaha.

Two weeks ago, GCC carriers were forced to suspend flights to Iraq, Iran, and Lebanon amid escalating tensions. However, matters have resumed normalcy, with most regional carriers resuming operations in affected countries.

Olivier Ponti, Director – Intelligence & Marketing at ForwardKeys – a travel industry intelligence firm – told at the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) summit last week that the impact (of the war) is quite limited for the GCC. Ponti said operational disruptions occur only during “crossfires” between warming nations. “Then it bounces back quickly. Travel is incredibly resilient despite all of these conflicts,” said Ponti.

Teffaha also said, “(Closure of) flight routes happens only during a period where you have cross border rockets and only for a very limited time. For airlines, the number one priority is safety.”