Middle Eastern airlines are indeed the real competition to European airlines, a fact recognised by Willie Walsh in September speech to the European Aviation Club. This new weekly email from Aviation News focuses on all of the developments in the MENA region from the past week.
The ambition and growth of airlines such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, sponsored by staunch government support poses a serious threat to the dominance of European and US airlines on long haul routes. But the African airlines are equally stepping up their expansion plans: demonstrated by the news from Ethiopian last week – broken here by Aviation News on September 27 – which is expanding into an airline group, and the more recent news – again broken by Aviation News – that Ethiopian, EgyptAir and South African Airways are working on setting up a domestic African carrier.
The latest Iata data shows passenger traffic is up in the this region and although it slowed during August, demand is expected to remain high for Middle Eastern airlines and those in Africa who are punching considerably above their weight. Moreover, as these airlines have access to export credit financing and increasing passenger demand, more aircraft orders are certain to come from this region.