Middle East airlines suffer traffic collapse amid regional conflict

Global air passenger demand fell by 3.4 per cent in April as conflict in the Middle East triggered a sharp collapse in regional air traffic, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), reports The National News via agencies on May 29th.

The industry body said airlines in the Middle East experienced a 46.6 per cent drop in demand during the month, making it the worst-performing region globally and dragging worldwide passenger traffic into negative territory.

IATA said global demand would have still grown by 1.2 per cent if the Middle East had been excluded from the figures.

“The 46.6 per cent fall in demand for carriers in the Middle East due to war in the region was so acute that it dragged overall demand down,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general. He added that the aviation market remained “highly volatile”.

Airlines are also facing growing financial pressure from rising fuel costs. Jet fuel prices more than doubled in April, increasing operational expenses for carriers already dealing with weaker passenger demand.

The disruption has been linked to wider instability in the region. Jet fuel exports from the five Gulf states fell by around 80 per cent in March during the Iran conflict, according to shipping intelligence platform Kpler. Exports dropped from 605,000 barrels per day a year earlier to just 127,000.

Middle Eastern airlines also recorded a 46.3 per cent decline in capacity in April, although load factors rose slightly by 0.3 percentage points to 74.9 per cent.

Despite the downturn in the Middle East, airlines in most other regions continued to report growth. Latin American carriers saw the strongest increase in demand at 13.9 per cent year-on-year, followed by Asia-Pacific airlines at 5.6 per cent. European carriers recorded 4.9 per cent growth, while North American airlines posted a modest 0.5 per cent rise.

The figures mark a significant reversal for the aviation industry, which had largely recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic in recent years.

Industry leaders, however, say the decline appears to be driven mainly by geopolitical instability rather than weakening consumer interest in travel. Analysts believe recovery will depend on easing airspace restrictions and the return of traveller confidence in the region.

The National News via agencies, Maghrebi.org