Arab carriers to bounce back

Even though the geo-political crisis in the Middle East dealt a huge blow to traffic growth in the past few months, strong recovery is expected for the region's carriers, according to the top executive at Arab Air Carriers Organisations (AACO). "The unrest affected primarily the traffic to and from the countries where the unrest is. However, the medium- and long-term outlook for the Middle East's air transport market remains quite healthy," Abdul Wahab Teffaha, Secretary-General of Arab Air Carriers Organisations, told Gulf News at the IATA annual general meeting in Singapore. He added that most Arab airlines have a "very strong cushion" of having a global reach, "which has been a lot more stable". Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's outgoing director general and CEO, echoes similar views. "The speed of the recovery in the Middle East is much faster. Once the political situation improves, the region's carriers will see passengers returning quite quickly," he said. IATA slashed its 2011 profit outlook for Middle Eastern carriers to $100 million (Dh367.8 million), 86 per cent below its previous forecast of $900 million. The region's carriers reported 12.1 per cent growth in international markets in April, double the 5.3 per cent increase they recorded in March.