Middle East airlines beat rival carriers in growth race

Middle East airlines have now surpassed North American carriers in their share of the international passenger market, the International Air Transport Association has revealed.

Last year, the region's airlines had the strongest annual growth in the international passenger market of all regional carriers, at 10.5 percent, compared with 9.3 percent for Latin America and 8.2 for Asia-Pacific-based airlines.

As a result, Middle East airlines took a 14.2 percent share of total international passenger traffic, compared with 13.4 percent for North American airlines.

The region's airlines are dominated by Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways.

Last month, the UAE's Etihad announced it had carried 17.4 million passengers during 2015, a year-on-year increase of 17 per cent on 2014.

Emirates meanwhile reported a 10 percent rise in passenger numbers for the six months to the end of September 2015, reported The National.

The increase in market share comes amid accusations from North American and European airlines of unfair practices in breach of open skies agreements, which Gulf carriers deny.

Last month, the UAE's Etihad announced it had carried 17.4 million passengers during 2015.

However, not all regional airlines are doing so well.

Kuwait Airways has retired 1,350 Kuwaiti nationals over the past two years, and is reviewing plans to let go of a further 1,000 non-Kuwaiti staff.

The airline has struggled to recover its profitability since Iraq's 1990-1991 invasion, when aircraft and parts were stolen, and has been further sidelined from the boom in Gulf aviation by complex bureaucratic procedures.

It is hoping to cut costs and return to profitability by 2019, reported Gulf News.

"Since two years, almost 1,600 people have left the airline, taking the golden handshake," said Chief Executive Abdullah Al Sarhan, referring to redundancy packages.

Other measure taken to save the airline included transforming the group into a quasi-independent, albeit state-owned, airline, which has enabled it to order new planes for the first time since the Iraqi invasion.

The government is also funding a new fleet, and the airline will cut unprofitable routes.

Sarhan said the measures were working, and the airline was now suffering smaller losses. In 2014, it posted a 33 million dinar ($109.2 million) loss, as compared with a loss of 67 million dinars ($222.8 million) the previous year.