Air Arabia chief calls for more privatisation of region's airlines

Adel Ali, the CEO of Sharjah-based Air Arabia called on governments to release their grip on airlines and push towards privatisation.

"There should be more business people and entrepreneurs involved in the airlines," he said. "There are people running airlines who just love aviation and don't worry about the business and there are governments running airlines who are worried about jobs.

"If airlines were run as businesses there would be more profitable airlines and more jobs," he said.

Ali was giving the keynote address at the Aviation Outlook MENA conference at the Shangri-la hotel in Dubai. "Good businesses create jobs," he said. "Air transport is a commodity," he said.

The conference also addressed other developments in the region, including a study on creating differentiation between low cost, hybrid and legacy carriers. Speakers included nasair's new chief executive Francois Bouteiller and Bahrain Air's CEO Richard Nuttall.

Meanwhile in a debate on the role of alliances in the region Sudeep Ghal, founding partner of Athena Aviation predicted that both Etihad and Qatar Airways would be members of global alliances before the end of 2013.

The Aviation Outlook conference continues tomorrow.