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Global aviation and tourism players meet this week at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai to map out the industry’s post-coronavirus recovery, highlight the latest technology shaping the future of travel and discuss sustainability initiatives.
Air travel is recovering only sporadically as vaccine campaigns progress at an uneven pace around the world and governments tighten border rules to curb virus flare-ups.
A faster rebound will hinge on rapid vaccine distribution, key markets reopening their borders to international travellers, investment in digital technology, cheaper PCR tests and greener operations, analysts said.
“A successful roll-out of the vaccination programme, coupled with adaptability and speed, is vital to the resurgence of the aviation and tourism industries, with long-term competitive advantages,” said Linus Bauer, founder and managing director of Bauer Aviation Advisory.
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Dubai: The UAE’s budget airlines – Air Arabia and flydubai - can be early winners in any resumption of flights to Doha, and which will also come in handy in their post-pandemic revival plans.
Both UAE carriers had high frequencies to Doha before the Qatar blockade from 2017. “Given that these two have significantly lower operating costs versus the three big players - including Qatar Airways - this advantage is going to clearly favour UAE s low-cost carriers as the preference to fly to Doha,” said Linus Bauer, Managing Director at Dubai-based Bauer Aviation Advisory.
“The lifting of the Qatar blockade will boost traffic to and from the UAE and help UAE airlines to reduce dependency on transfer connectivity via their hubs.”
On the anniversary of Iran’s downing of a Ukrainian civilian airliner over Tehran, UN experts have called for urgent measures to protect civilian aircraft flying in conflict zones or areas of high military tensions.
On Jan. 8, 2020, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 minutes after it had taken off from Tehran to Kiev, killing all 176 passengers.
Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said in a statement that this incident “highlights the insufficiencies of the international conventions related to air safety, both in preventing military actions against civilian planes, and in ensuring proper investigations should they occur.”