Mohamed Ali Al-Bakri, Vice President of the International Air Transport Association in the Africa and the Middle East region, said that Emirates Airlines’s resumption of regular flights to some international destinations is a step in the right direction within the framework of the gradual return of the air transport sector, pointing to These trips will focus primarily on returning residents abroad.
Al Bakri said in a remote briefing that Emirates Airlines has also obtained the necessary approvals to allow its customers to continue their travel between the United Kingdom and Australia via Dubai, noting that the acceleration of these steps comes within the framework of keeping the air transport sector around the world alive.
He explained that the return of the air transport sector to the previous levels before the spread of the Corona virus could take a period extending to 2022 or 2023 to reach the normal rates for the number of travelers, adding: “During the coming months we will witness a slow return, so that the rates increase at the end of this year, to witness "A more solid start for the new year."
Al-Bakri indicated that airlines cannot survive at this stage without government support, pointing out that, unlike most other regions, there is a delay in the Middle East region in the framework of airline support.
He said that «the priority for the sector at the present time is to provide financial relief, through the intervention of the governments of the region, by providing direct financial support, support for loans and bank guarantees on the stock market for airlines, as well as reducing, postponing or exempting all taxes, fees and charges imposed by The government over the air transport sector. ”
Al-Bakri stressed that re-launching the air transport sector requires a collective effort, while facing the biggest challenge in the history of commercial aviation, which is restarting the sector, which has largely stopped working, pointing out that facing this challenge means making major changes to the experience of plane travel at various stages. .
He stated that the aviation sector at the global level continues to decline due to the current crisis and without any exception to any region, pointing out that the average number of flights around the world fell to 81% at the end of the first quarter of this year, due to the interruption of aircraft in airports around the world with the exception of domestic flights in America and Asia .