• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Issue 77 - Aug. 2013 Official Monthly Bulletin of AACO Arab world marks an increase of AVIATION WITHIN THE ARAB WORLD GLOBAL ARAB AVIATION 13.6% in June 2013 in international passenger numbers - p. 7 GROWTH p: 10 SPREADING OUT p: 24 PARTNER AIRLINES p: 48 - 59 An extra 12 million international ARAB AIRLINES ECONOMICS p: 11 TOURISM p: 32 INDUSTRY PARTNERS p: 60 - 79 tourists in the first four months of EXPANSION p: 13 AACO & RTC CALENDARS p: 80 - 83 2013 - p. 32 COLLABORATION p: 35 LAURELS p: 17 ENVIRONMENT p: 36 AACO MEMBERS & PARTNERS p: 84 - 87 Middle East airports target carbon TECHNOLOGY & E-COMMERCE p: 17 REGULATORY TONE p: 38 neutrality with environmental and emissions reduction initiatives - p. 36 TRAINING p: 18 AN AVIATION MARKET IN FOCUS: UAE p: 42 ARAB AIRPORTS p: 19 WORLD NEWS p: 44 Daily news on www.aaco.org Issue 77 - Aug. 2013 New open-skies deals are pav- The EU has as well entered open skies bilaterals with Brazil and Can- ing the way for strengthening ada as global strategic partners, in addition to neighborhood coun- trade, investment and partner- tries such as Western Balkan partners and Morocco in 2006, Georgia ships, among other benefits. In and Jordan in 2010, and Maldova in 2012. In December the EU an- July, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait nounced plans to open negotiations with Turkey and India, and set a Whether sealed open skies accords with 2015 target for comprehensive open skies agreements with all neigh- New Zealand. The UAE inked an boring countries. An accord with Ukraine is expected by this year’s Bilateral or open skies deal with Finland, while end. Negotiations are under way with Australia, New Zealand and, Oman and the US have agreed recently, with Tunisia. Multilateral, to sign an open skies agreement whereby the date of signing of the On the multilateral level, such efforts are relatively progressing slow- Progress is agreement is yet to be announced. ly. The EU, having its Commission as a central authority, was success- Meanwhile, China and Canada ful in having all EU states on board one single aviation market. Other Slow sealed a new expanded aviation regions in the world which have attempted to have a single aviation accord that allows for a threefold market lack such a central authority. To name few multilateral agree- increase in passenger and cargo ments from around the world, we have the Andean Pact (Open Skies flights. Although there’s some among Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia), Mercosur’s Fortaleza progress in liberalizing air services accord (Open Skies among secondary cities in Argentina, Bolivia, Bra- globally, this progress in generally zil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay), the Yamoussukro Decision in Africa, very slow. the MALIAT (Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Cook Islands, Mongolia, New Zealand, Samoa, Singapore, Tonga, and the US), the Single Aviation At the bilateral level, the US has Market (reciprocal cabotage between Australia and New Zealand), sealed more than 100 open-skies southeast Asia’s ASEAN, and the Damascus Convention between Arab accords. Other forms of bilater- states. Such agreements have set timelines and targets to reach single als are between a bloc on one aviation markets, however most of them have lagged way behind hand and a country on the other, schedule. Having no central authority has opened the door for res- for example between the EU and ervations by some states, and picks and chooses by other states. Ac- US, or between ASEAN and China; cordingly the benefits and objectives of such agreements remain un- however, in the latter some ASEAN realized, and even if these agreements are adopted they do not tackle states have not yet ratified the seventh freedom. agreement with China. Daily news on www.aaco.org Issue 77 - Aug. 2013 5 Market access is only one piece of the liberalization puzzle, the other OVERALL TRAFFIC - ARAB WORLD important piece is airlines’ ownership and control which is most of We estimate international passenger numbers to, from, & within the times the hurdle to advancement in liberalized accords. Even in the Arab World to increase by 13.6% in June 2013 compared to June the EU-US negotiations, the US refuses to have airline ownership on 2012, which follows an increase of 12.1% in May 2013 compared to the agenda. May 2012. Monthly International Passenger Numbers' Change to, from and within the Arab World It is important to refer here to IATA’s Agenda for freedom, whereby Jul 12 to Jun 13* compared to same month in previous year 14% signatories of the Agenda agree to waive on a reciprocal basis any re- 12% 10% strictions in their own bilaterals on ownership by airlines from other 8% signing countries. The agenda was signed or endorsed by Chile, the 6% 4% EC, Kuwait, Malaysia, Panama, Singapore, Switzerland, United Arab 2% 0% Emirates, the USA, Bahrain, Lebanon, New Zealand and Qatar. -2% In summary, until a time comes when restrictions on market ac- cess are removed and airlines’ ownership and control provisions are YoY Growth 12-Month Average Growth eased, the huge potentials of airlines and the aviation sector as a Source: AACO, IATA *Estimated In June 2013, AACO members increased the number of their offered whole will still be unrealized, hence, the world will be missing out on seats to, from, and within the Arab world by 13.4%, while other air- the massive potentials of a big contributor to the global economy. lines increased their number of seats offered by 10.7%, leading to 12.6% year-on-year increase in the total number of seats offered. Daily news on www.aaco.org Issue 77 - Aug. 2013 7 AVIATION WITHIN THE ARAB WORLD Aviation in the Arab World GROWTH Monthly International Passenger Numbers' Change within the Arab World Jul 12 to Jun 13* compared to same month in previous year PASSENGER TRAFFIC International passenger numbers within the Arab world are estimated to in- 20% crease by 14.7% in June 2013 compared June 2012 following an increase of 15.1% in May 2013 over May 2012. 15% 10% Passenger traffic within the Arab Sub Regions June 13* over June 12 5% Within Arabian Peninsula 22.9% 0% Within Near East 5.4% Within North Africa 39.8% -5% Between Arabian Peninsula & Near East 4.2% Between the Near East and North Africa 11.0% Between Arabian Peninsula & North Africa 33.9% YoY Growth 12-Month Average Growth Source: AACO, IATA *Estimated Source: AACO, IATA *Estimated International Passenger Numbers' Change Within the Arab World Mar13-May13 & Apr13-Jun13* compared to same period in previous year 80% ARAB AIRLINES ECONOMICS 70% Etihad Airways posts record results for second quarter and first half of 2013: 60% Etihad Airways announced its strongest second quarter and half-year financial 50% performances on record, reflecting continued solid growth in its airline alli- 40% ance strategy and global cargo operations. 30% The carrier achieved an 8% increase in Q2 2013 passenger revenues, generat- ing USD 921 million (2012: USD 855 million), while passenger revenues for 20% the first half of 2013 reached USD 1.8 billion (2012: USD 1.6 billion), up by 10% 13%. 0% Revenue generated by codeshare and equity alliance airline partners was USD within within N 184 million in Q2 2013. This was 25% above the USD 147 million turnover in Arabian within N East N East the same period of 2012. Partnership revenue comprised 20% of the airline’s Pen Africa Arabian N East N Mar13-May13 Africa N Africa total passenger revenue in both Q2 and the first half of 2013. Pen Arabian Apr13-Jun13* Etihad Airways increased its codeshare partnerships during Q2, adding Serbia’s Pen JatAirways, and announced new partnerships with Air Canada, South African Source: AACO, IATA *Estimated Airways and Belavia of Belarussia, all to take effect during Q3. With these in- Passenger numbers within the Arab world reported a 14.5% growth between clusions, Etihad Airways will have 45 codeshare partners and a virtual global March 13 & May 13 compared to same period in the previous year. network of more than 350 destinations. In Q2, Etihad Airways’ Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) – reflecting network Passenger numbers within the Arab world reported a 14.4% increase between seat capacity – rose by 13% to 17.2 billion (2012: 15.2 billion). Revenue Pas- May 13 & June 13* compared to same period in the previous year. senger Kilometres (RPKs) – reflecting traffic – increased by 13% to 13.3 billion in Q2 2013 (2012: 11.8 billion). Etihad Cargo continued to achieve the strongest growth in the company, with 112,963 tons uplifted in Q2 2013 (2012: 89,470 tons) and 215,124 tons in the first half of 2013 (2012: 174,622 tons). This reflected a massive 26% growth in Q2 and 23% growth for the first half of 2013. Daily news on www.aaco.org Issue 77 - Aug. 2013 11 Aviation in the Arab World Etihad Airways and Government of Serbia unveil strategic partnership to Gulf Air’s half year financial and operating results reflect positive restructur- secure future of Serbian national airline:Etihad Airways has unveiled plans to ing progress: Gulf Air announced its restructuring strategy was on-track fol- acquire 49% of JatAirways. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier has also been award- lowing a robust financial and operational performance in the first half of the ed a five year management contract for the Serbian national airline. These are year, ending June 2013. Currently six months into a restructuring strategy the two of the key components of a wide-ranging strategic partnership agreement, airline posted its best first half-year results.

Load more

  46

Copy Link