Middle East & North Africa

Gulf Air will resume its direct operations to Istanbul Airport in Turkey with 2 weekly flights starting from 11 May 2021.

Flydubai has added two seasonal summer routes for passengers from Dubai and across the region.

Qatar Airways becomes the first global carrier to operate Honeywell’s Ultraviolet (UV) Cabin System version 2.0, further advancing its hygiene measures on board.

Passengers travelling with Etihad Airways from now until 31 May from Abu Dhabi to Chicago, New York, Washington and Toronto, will be the first to trial the IATA Travel Pass app to easily manage their travel health credentials.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has landed for the first time in Israel and launched the route between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi.

Flydubai has added Batumi to its seasonal summer schedule.

Boeing and Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) have announced the aircraft lessor has ordered 15 737-8 MAX jets.

The first-ever European Business Aviation SAF Summit has concluded with a strategic plan for advancing the production, availability and use of sustainable aviation fuels in the region.

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) and Lifebuoy have signed the first of its kind Hygiene Partnership Agreement in the Middle East.

Emirates will resume four weekly services to Mexico City (MEX) via Barcelona (BCN) from 2nd July 2021.

Gulf Air has successfully completed a 100% virtual business continuity management drill.

Etihad Airways has operated its first ecoFlight for 2021, continuing research and testing under the Etihad Greenliner programme to assess environmental sustainability initiatives during scheduled services.

Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign investor, has announced a three-year partnership with the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (MBZ Fund) to support conservation initiatives around the world.

To help the industry recover and accelerate the transition into a greener future, ITW GSE bring a new eGPU family member into play.

Gulf Air has marked the successful completion of the first scheduled C-Check maintenance event on its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet.

Etihad Airways CEO Tony Douglas has said the airline has decided to ground it’s entire fleet of 10 Airbus A380s “indefinitely”, as well as axe its entire Boeing 777-300ER fleet.

Emirates and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) have begun to implement full digital verification of COVID-19 medical records connected to testing and vaccination for travellers based in the UAE.

Gulf Air and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) have held talks to discuss their close commercial relationships and explore ways to build on the ties by establishing a codeshare agreement.

Dnata has made key senior management appointments.

Menzies Aviation has announced that MASIL, its joint venture with Iraqi Airways, has commenced cargo operations at Baghdad International Airport, with the launch of its ‘Cargo Go Live’ initiative and manifesto for creating a world-class cargo terminal at the airport.

The emergence of new COVID-19 strains in India could pose challenges for the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) super-connector aviation hubs as they move towards recovery, said GlobalData’s MEED.

Gulf Air recently launched its new slogan ‘A class of our own’ during the 2021 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

62 source and outbound markets represented in-person at Arabian Travel Market, including Jordan, KSA, Germany, Italy, Russia, Greece, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives and Cyprus A total of 62 countries will be represented on the exhibition floor this year at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021.

Saudi Arabia’s World Defense Show has officially started on Phase 2 of construction of its 800,000 sqm venue near Riyadh – featuring the world’s first purpose-built runway for a defense event.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stalled a historical global pilot shortage but steps already need to be taken by airlines to ensure pilot supply does not fall short again, according to findings by Oliver Wyman, a global leader in management consulting.