Based on 2023 figures, this includes:    

USD 21.1 billion of economic activity which is equal to 5.3% of Egypt’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (including wider supply chain, employee spending, and tourism activities)

1.4 million jobs (across the supply chain and including tourism), of which 32,800 are directly employed by airlines

338,600 tonnes of air cargo handled

“Aviation is a key contributor to Egypt’s economy. Directly and through its well-developed tourism industry, aviation supports nearly 1.4 million jobs. And over 5% of Egypt’s GDP has close links to aviation. Importantly, the Egyptian government is using the aviation sector as a strategic enabler for its economic and social development. I was encouraged by the Minister of Civil Aviation’s reaffirmation of the government’s commitment to continued close collaboration with IATA in order to further expand aviation’s benefits to Egypt—guided by global standards and best practices across all areas of aviation, including safety, sustainability, cost-efficiency, skills development, and more,” said Kamil Alawadhi, IATA’s regional vice-president for Africa and Middle East.

Key Priorities for Egypt

To continue maximising the benefits of aviation, IATA highlights three key priorities for Egypt:

Cost-Efficiency: As Egypt strategically invests in airport infrastructure (Cairo International, Borg El Arab and Sphinx International), IATA urges the government to collaborate with airline users and adhere to global best practices. Such collaboration will avoid unnecessary financial burdens on airlines and passengers.

Sustainability: IATA is encouraged by Egypt’s collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to create the capacity to produce 120,000 tonnes of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) annually. This supports Egypt’s Vision 2030 and aligns with the global goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions in aviation by 2050. It is an encouraging step which will help place Egypt and its aviation sector on the patch to achieving its common goal of decarbonising aviation.

Capacity-Building: A strong and skilled aviation workforce is critical to growing aviation’s benefits. From technical operations to digital transformation and sustainable practices, a future-ready workforce will strengthen safety, efficiency, and long-term resilience.

The conventional, three‑year facility was significantly oversubscribed, attracting commitments from 20 leading banks across the globe, including 8 new banking partners from Europe, Asia and North America.

Edward O'Byrne, CEO of AviLease, said: "We are pleased to close this facility, noting the strong international demand. Together with our existing revolver of $750mn, it brings our immediately‑available committed facilities to $2.25 billion, spanning 25 local and global lenders. This enhanced liquidity positions us to continue our expansion, investing in latest‑technology, fuel‑efficient aircraft while maintaining the conservative financial policy that underpins our strategy.”

Kuljit Ghata-Aura, president of Boeing Middle East, Türkiye, Africa, and Central Asia, said: “Boeing’s expanded footprint in Africa is a testament to our commitment to the region’s aerospace industry. This office will allow us to work more closely with our more than 60 airline customers on the continent, forge strategic partnerships, enhance safety standards and contribute to the ongoing efforts to expand Africa’s aviation industry, which is a key driver of the region’s economy.”

Boeing also has an office in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has field service representatives stationed with airlines in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania and Togo. 

Heading the office will be Henok Teferra Shawl, managing director of Boeing Africa. Henok said: "Africa is among the most promising markets in terms of economic and business growth. Being closer to our customers, government stakeholders, and suppliers will enable us to develop solutions that best address the needs of Africa’s aviation sector."

The UAE is a critical hub for global connectivity. And the benefits of its super connector role, brings trade, tourism, investment, and jobs to the UAE,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general.

The report shows activity in 2023 shows:

USD 92 billion, contributing 18.2% to GDP (total impact including wider supply chain, employee spending, and tourism activities)

992,000 jobs (total impact including wider supply chain, employee spending, and tourism activities)

74,500 employed directly by airlines, with a further 132,300 employed elsewhere in aviation and 297,300 employed in aviation-related tourism

One million tons of air cargo handled in 2023

“The leadership of the UAE has a strategic vision for aviation, supported by smart regulation and investment in world-class infrastructure. Supporting nearly a million jobs and 18.2% of GDP, aviation makes an enormous contribution to the UAE’s prosperity—both culturally and economically. And we can be confident that this contribution will strengthen as the UAE continues to facilitate opportunities for aviation to thrive,” said Walsh.

Key Priorities for the UAE

Building on its position as a global aviation leader, the UAE is well-placed to progress in three priority areas:

Sustainability: The UAE has been a leader in the development of Low Carbon Aviation Fuel (LCAF) and is targeting an annual production of 700 million liters of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) by 2030. IATA looks forward to the potential for even broader collaboration with the UAE, in pursuit of opportunities to advance progress towards aviation’s net zero carbon emissions by 2050 goal such as the recently launched SAF Registry (operated by CADO). 

Infrastructure: As the UAE continues to invest in world class-infrastructure to meet future demand, particularly with the development of Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) and Zayed International Airport (AUH), it is critical to work with industry to remain a cost competitive hub for airlines and passengers.

Workforce: The UAE is making significant investments in aviation training to ensure a skilled workforce to support growth opportunities. Maintaining a sustainable pipeline of aviation professionals will further strengthen the UAE's status as a global aviation hub. As part of this effort, a new IATA training centre was recently opened in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The report said policymakers in New Delhi and Abu Dhabi should ‘seize this moment’ to implement a phased liberalisation roadmap.

The recommendation is to adopt a strategic, phased approach to open up the skies, and do so with ‘urgency’ ensuring that both countries stay ahead of demand, capitalise on mutual opportunities, and jointly secure their position as global aviation leaders.

To capture these gains, the report suggests a phased liberalisation of India–UAE air services.

Key policy measures include:

Phased Capacity Expansion: Given India’s robust growth trajectory, UAE-India flight capacity can be doubled over five years, with annually phased liberalisation of 20 percent. This steady expansion will meet rising demand while avoiding market shocks, leading to a 20-percent reduction in airfares. A controlled pace prevents sudden overcapacity and guards against traffic diversion to third-country hubs, ensuring sustainable growth for airlines in both countries.  

Strengthen Hubs and Regional Connectivity:

Invest in and enhance major Indian airports (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru) as efficient international hubs in partnership with UAE carriers. Synchronise flight schedules to improve connections. Simultaneously, phase in UAE airline access to tier-2 and tier-3 Indian cities in a calibrated manner. This approach boosts connectivity for smaller cities while allowing Indian domestic carriers to partner (through codeshare/interlining) for last-mile connectivity, so regional airports grow alongside major hubs.

Liberalising air services

The report added liberalising air services would generate substantial welfare gains for Indian travellers. A phased 5-percent annual increase in bilateral seat capacity is projected to add over US$152 million in consumer surplus by 2028 (directly adding to Indian travellers’ savings). A more ambitious doubling of capacity over five years could yield an economic benefit exceeding US$1.05 billion to Indian consumers. Thus, phased liberalisation up to 100 percent can generate savings for Indian consumers exceeding US$1.05 billion.

Morocco will be host of the 2030 soccer World Cup and ONDA intends to build the new terminal by 2029.

It is expected to accommodate 20 million passengers annually, supporting the country’s growing aviation sector and Royal Air Maroc’s plans to quadruple its fleet to 200 aircraft by 2037. The airport currently has the capacity to handle around 15 million passengers per year.

The three-level terminal will feature a spacious duty-free zone, VIP lounges and an on-site hotel, and ONDA also said the new terminal will be connected to a high-speed train network that will link Kenitra to Marrakech, airports.

The project, worth $7.8 billion, aims to dramatically scale up Ethiopia’s aviation capacity, to handle 60 million passengers annually by 2040, up from the current 17 million.

The landmark MoU was signed between Mesfin Tasew, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, and Nnenna Nwabufo, vice president for regional development, integration, and strategy at AfDB.

The new airport will be constructed in Abusera, near Bishoftu, in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.

This portfolio is comprised of 100% next-generation aircraft, of which 89% are narrow body aircraft. 80% of the aircraft are manufactured by Airbus and 20% are manufactured by Boeing. These 17 aircraft are on lease to 11 airlines in 10 countries.

Upon completion, these aircraft are expected to reduce DAE’s weighted average passenger fleet age to 6.9 years and increase DAE’s weighted average passenger fleet lease term remaining to 6.6 years. Additionally, on completion, DAE’s pro-forma fleet composition is expected to be 46% Airbus aircraft, 49% Boeing aircraft, and 5% ATR 72-600.

Firoz Tarapore, chief executive officer of DAE, commented: “Consistent with our commitment to improve the next generation content of our fleet and reduce the fleet average age, we are delighted to add these modern, fuel-efficient, next-generation technology assets to our portfolio. This transaction also allows us to further deepen our relationship with our global base of airline customers, and we welcome three airline customers back to DAE.

Amid ongoing order book delivery delays, we are continuing to source attractive assets in the secondary market to meet our growth and portfolio management targets.”

The collaboration aims to provide flexible and reliable leasing solutions to airlines in the region and beyond.

Zela Aviation's chairman, Andreas Christodoulides, said: “We are excited to be working with XEJet and supporting their ACMI leasing opportunities. This cooperation strengthens our presence in Africa and allows us to provide additional capacity to airlines in need of efficient regional jet operations.”

Sukhjinder Mann, chief operating officer, added: "Putting our aircraft for lease on the international market is a major milestone for XEJet as it signifies the growth of XEJet and demonstrates the diversification of our business model, we operate and run a number of airlines and our ACMI business is also growing nicely. We are pleased to partner with Zela Aviation due to their international network of airline clients and operators. We believe in and are committed to this partnership.”

Times Aerospace Events is delighted to announce the MRO Association of India as a strategic partner.

“Our association is honoured to be partnering with Times Aerospace Events for the second edition of Aviation India,” said C S Tomar, President of the MRO Association of India. “The MRO sector in India is responding strongly to our country’s need for more home-grown engineering and technical services and promoting these efforts at Aviation India 2025 will play a vital role in this drive.”

The event will be a two-day, high-level networking conference & exhibition bringing together aviation professionals, leaders and C-suite executives from airlines, including cargo and business aviation operators, government, regulators, airports, lessors, OEMs, MROs, training, finance & leasing, insurance, law firms and aviation suppliers and services providers from across the entire supply chain.

Aviation India 2025 is also pleased to announce and welcome back the Business Aircraft Operations Association (BAOA) of India as a supporting partner of Aviation India 2025, to help address the issues that face this growing part of India’s aviation ecosystem to the Summit.

Under the title Aviation India 2025: Shaping the pathway for Indian aviation, the summit will debate and examine how the industry is transforming at pace to unlock growth bringing together leaders from across India and the Subcontinent. “Even at this early stage, we are delighted to confirm Air India as a major supporter of Aviation India 2025, and its CEO, Campbell Wilson as one of the keynote speakers at the Summit,” said Mark Brown, managing director of Times Aerospace Events.

To help shape the content and programme of the 2-day summit, Times Aerospace Events is bringing together a panel of Indian aviation experts to assist in this effort.

This panel features:

• Bharat Malkani, Chairman of Max Aerospace and Aviation Ltd

• Willy Boulter, airline C-suite executive, senior aviation consultant, former Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo

• Sunam Datta, Chief Commercial Officer, Skyplan

• Neelam Mathews, veteran aviation, defence, travel and tourism correspondent

For more information please visit www.aviationindia.aero