Middle East & North Africa

IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac said during a speech at The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) that we will not be able to eliminate the risk of Covid-19 in any foreseeable timeline, so we must learn to manage the risk of it.

Adults who book their next flight to Abu Dhabi or Dubai with Etihad Airways can take their children for free.

Etihad Cargo has reported a 50 per cent year-on-year rise in pharma shipments under its specialised PharmaLife product.

Turkish Airlines has achieved the highest 'Diamond' status in the health and safety review conducted by APEX and SimpliFlying.

Qatar Airways Cargo will provide forwarders with real-time pricing, capacity, and eBookings via WebCargo, marking a major milestone in air cargo digitalisation.

Following the purchase of 80,000 tonnes of Carbon Offsets in November, Etihad Airways is expanding its offset programme in collaboration with Shell. Separately, the airline is also setting up a guest programme to allow guests to purchase additional voluntary offsets.

Qatar Airways has signed an expanded codeshare agreement with Iberia.

Menzies Aviation has announced that the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) has awarded the exclusive contract for the delivery of a full suite of ground handling, cargo and fuelling services at Baghdad International Airport to Menzies’ joint venture with Iraqi Airways, trading as MASIL.

Dnata, part of the Emirates Group. has opened a new, state-of-the art cargo complex, Dnata City North, at Manchester Airport (MAN).

Etihad Airways will recommence passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to Doha on 15 February 2021, subject to the applicable government approvals.

Royal Jordanian will start implementing the new measures required by the Jordanian Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission for inbound flights as of January 20th, 2021.

Airbus Helicopters has started in-flight tests on board its Flightlab, a platform-agnostic flying laboratory exclusively dedicated to maturing new technologies.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now poised to become the first Arab state to acquire the F-35 fighter aircraft from the United States, after Washington signed an agreement to sell 50 F-35 fighter jets and up to 18 armed drones hours before Joseph Biden was sworn into office.

Qatar Airways has raised over a million US Dollars for Education Above All (EAA) Foundation’s programme, Educate A Child (EAC), during 2019 and 2020.

In 2020, Airbus Helicopters logged 289 gross orders in a challenging market heavily impacted by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flydubai will add Catania and Naples in Italy, Salzburg in Austria and Malta to its European network from May 2021.

Qatar Airways joins Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways to trial the IATA Travel Pass ‘Digital Passport’ mobile app.

The latest data analysis produced by YouGov for Reed Exhibitions, the organiser of Arabian Travel Market (ATM), has revealed that 46% of luxury travellers in the Middle East, are planning to travel internationally at some stage during 2021.

As the UAE signs a deal to procure defence equipment including 50 F-35s, 18 MQ-9s, and missiles from the US worth up to $23bn; Sai Kiran, defence analyst at GlobalData, offers his view.

Etihad Airways and MedAire, an International SOS company, has launched an advanced operational pilot for the digitalisation of pre-departure COVID-19 testing using the ICC AOKpass mobile app.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has welcomed the opening of the new terminal at Bahrain International Airport.

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) and Saudia have signed MoU which includes joint marketing and promotional activity.

Jazeera Airways has launched a new service to the Sri Lankan capital, offering direct flights between Kuwait and Colombo twice a week.

Airbus will showcase a range of technologies, capabilities and solutions from Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2021.

Despite shrinking to its lowest point of under 400 aircraft during the pandemic, the in-service fleet size in the Middle East is forecasted to reach more than 2,300 by 2031, according to Oliver Wyman’s latest fleet and MRO forecast.