Middle East & North Africa

Around 850 Royal Air Maroc (RAM) staff, including pilots, are facing redundancy as the airline continues to struggle during Covid-19 and look to a recovery plan.

Gulf Air will resume its direct flights to and from Kuwait with scheduled operations starting from 1 August 2020.

Qatar Airways has added the destination of Cebu; the second largest city in the Philippines, to its route network.

Turkey’s TAV Airports served 11.4 million passengers in the first half of 2020.

Emirates' First-Class travel experience was given double honours at the 2020 Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice awards for Airlines.

Emirates is to resume passenger services to Clark in the Philippines.

Emirates is offering some pilots and cabin crews the option to take four months or less of unpaid leave between August and November while it recovers during the Covid-19 crises.

Emirates is to offer free Covid-19 insurance to its passengers as it tries to get people to feel comfortable to take to the skies again.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for global air freight markets in June showing improvement, but at a slower pace than some of the traditional leading indicators would suggest, with Middle Eastern carriers reporting a decline of 19.1% year-on-year.

Qatar Airways will resume three weekly flights to Helsinki on July 29.

IATA has today called on governments in the Middle East to harmonise biosafety measures for passengers across the region as aviation restarts.

The 'Traveller wellbeing' challenge aims to accelerate and scale market-ready solutions and products that enhance health and safety for travellers with companies and organisations invited to apply to pitch for collaboration with Emirates Airline and Aviation X Lab.

Pegasus Airlines has signed up to the COVID-19 Aviation Health Safety Protocol published jointly by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Emirates and Dubai is sending out the clear message that tourists are welcome to enjoy the city's many attractions, with various measures put in place for safe visits and smooth travels.

Istanbul based company Keyvan Aviation has created new antibacterial uniforms that use materials designed to protect people from viruses and bacteria without cabin crew having to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) over their uniforms.

Emirates is to provide critical emergency relief and aid to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the recent blasts in Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia’s L3Harris has launched a new course to support Saudi citizens who wish to become commercial pilots.

Dubai-based carrier Flydubai has expanded its network to 24 routes as more countries start to lift restrictions on international travel.

Abu Dhabi Airports Free Zone (ADAFZ) has recorded a 109% increase in the number of companies registering with the free zone authority in the first half of 2020, as compared to the same period in 2019.

Despite the concerns over the aviation and aerospace industries Abu Dhabi is witnessing growth in an area that acts as an indicator of the future health of the industry

Emirates will commence services to Clark International Airport, Philippines, on 19 August 2020.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released an airline self-assessment health checklist to support the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Take-off: Guidance for Air Travel through the Covid-19 Public Health Crisis.

Saudia Cargo has expanded its cargo network with the addition of Shanghai station to its flight schedules which commenced last Saturday, August 15.

Emirates will resume passenger flights to Warsaw from 4 September starting with twice-a-week services, and increasing to three-a-week from 7 October.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released new data showing the impact on the Middle East aviation industry and on economies caused by the shutdown of air traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened over recent weeks.