MANAMA -- The participants and experts at the fifth Arab Aviation and Media Summit generally agreed that the aviation industry in the region was facing a positive outlook despite numerous challenges from various resources.
More than 200 industry leaders, government officials and journalists from around the world attended the 2015 conference, which this year was held in Manama in partnership with Bahrain's Ministry of Transportation & Telecommunications and Bahrain Airport Company.
The surprising factor of the conference was the fact that all the experts including officials from IATA, ministries as well as journalists took the business perspective of the aviation industry and generally their discussion focused around profitability, operational issues and several other business related technical issues, but none of them, not even IATA vice president or media persons took the passengers' perspective.
Media was termed by various speakers as a school for the industry through which they get the pulse of the industry but unfortunately none of the media person attending the conclave raised any issue pertaining to passengers. Saudi Gazette tried to find answers to the passenger-related issues from the IATA representative at the conference but without any success.
Hardly any speaker talked about passengers; their difficulties, fare structuring, variable fares, classes within class,. excessive load of operation takes on passengers, undue penalty on passengers and several other uses emanating from the operation of airlines.
The three-day event began with a keynote address from Kamal Bin Ahmed Mohammed, Bahraini Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications who highlighted the importance of investing in both infrastructure and talent to support growth. He updated on the Bahrain International Airport modernization program, which is anticipated to act as a catalyst for further growth in passenger numbers.
Other speakers and panelists included Hussain Dabbas, regional vice president, IATA; Abde lwahab Teffaha, secretary general, Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO); Fouad Attar, managing director, Airbus Middle East; Ahmed Al Nemah, ministry of transportation and telecommunication's acting under secretary for civil aviation affairs, Kingdom of Bahrain; Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah, chief executive officer, Bahrain Airport Company; Jerad Bachar, executive director tourism & leisure, Bahrain Economic Development Board; Omer Kaddouri, chief executive officer & president, Rotana (UAE); Kapil Kaul, CEO South Asia, CAPA (India); Haitham Mattar, chief executive officer, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (UAE); Andrew Gordon, director strategic marketing & analysis, Airbus; and Mario Segovia Sman, head of business development MENA, Amadeus.
Among the themes emanating from the conference was the strategically important role that aviation and tourism continue to play in the ongoing development of Arab economies by creating employment, attracting visitors and helping to market cities and countries to overseas investors.
There was broad consensus among participants that aviation and tourism are set for a period of sustained growth in the Middle East, driven particularly by internal demand and the growing importance of the neighboring regions of Africa and Asia. However, some participants believed that growth would be significantly higher if key issues such as infrastructure and regulatory constraints, environmental concerns, the slowdown in world trade, and the need to recruit tens of thousands of skilled professionals, are dealt with effectively.
This year's edition of the event also featured 'The Little Engineer' workshop, an edutainment workshop that aims to instill a passion for science, technology and engineering among young nationals, as well as a special IMAX screening of 'Living in the age of airplanes' a National Geographic production documentary film. Both were supported by Airbus and Air Arabia.
© The Saudi Gazette 2015
