AN ITP MEDIA GROUP PUBLIC ATION Jazeera Airways CEO Rohit Ramachandran explains how establishing a strong balance sheet and cash position prior to the pandemic will allow one of the Gulf’s leading LCCs to emerge from the coronavirus crisis ahead of some of its rivals PILOT TALK WHY THE UAE IS A BREEDING GROUND FOR ASTRONAUTS NEWS UPDATENEWS UPDATE || FACTS & FIGURESFACTS & FIGURES || IN-DEPTH ANALYSISIN-DEPTH ANALYSIS || TRADE COLUMNSTRADE COLUMNS ROYAL JORDANIAN Getting an airline transformation plan back on-track THE MAGAZINE FOR AVIATION EXECUTIVES IN THE MIDDLE EAST | VOLUME 19 ISSUE 08 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2020N TTTTTHTHTHTHTHTHTHHTHTTHHHTTTHTHHTHTTHTTHTHTHTTHTHTHHTTHHTHTHHHTHTTTTHHTHTTHHTHTHHTTTTTTEE E EEEEE E E EE EEE E EEEE EEEEE MMMMMMMMMMIMIMIMIMIMIMMIMIMIIMMMMMMMMIIIMIMMMMMMIMMMMIMIMIMMMIMIMIIMMMMIMMMMIMMMIMMMMMMMMMMMMMM DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDLELELELELELELELELEELEELEELELELEEEEEEELELELEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASASASASASASASASASASASSASASASAASAASASAAAAASSASAAAASAAASSASASSASA TT TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT | |||| | |||| ||| VOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOOVOVOVOVOOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOOVOVOOOVOVOVOVOOVOOOOVOOVOOOVOVOVOVVOVOOVOOVVOOVVOOOVOVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULUULULLULULULUULLLULULULULULULULULUULULLULULULUULLULULULULULULUUMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMMMEMEMMMMMMMMMEMMMMEMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEE 11111111111119 9 9 99 9 999999 9999999 ISISISISISISISSSISISISISISISISISSSIIISIISSSSSSUSUSUSUSUSUSUSUUSUSUSUSUSUSUUSUUSSUEEEEEEEEEEEEE 00000000000000000000000088888888888888888888888888888888888 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWith all the features pilots appreciated in the original, the new ProFlight Series 2 now offers significant improvements and updates based on pilot feedback. 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INTRODUCING PROFLIGHT SERIES 2 PROFLIGHT SERIES 2 AVIATION HEADSET NEW AVIATION AVIATION BOSE-14816_PFS2_advert_205x275mm_male_RZ.indd 1BOSE-14816_PFS2_advert_205x275mm_male_RZ.indd 123.03.20 13:0723.03.20 13:073 August-September 2020 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com CONTENTS August-September 2020 Volume 19 Issue 08 AN ITP MEDIA GROUP PUBLIC ATION Jazeera Airways CEO Rohit Ramachandran explains how establishing a strong balance sheet and cash position prior to the pandemic will allow one of the Gulf’s leading LCCs to emerge from the coronavirus crisis ahead of some of its rivals PILOT TALK WHY THE UAE IS A BREEDING GROUND FOR ASTRONAUTS NEWS UPDATENEWS UPDATE || FACTS & FIGURESFACTS & FIGURES || IN-DEPTH ANALYSISIN-DEPTH ANALYSIS || TRADE COLUMNSTRADE COLUMNS ROYAL JORDANIAN Getting an airline transformation plan back on-track THE MAGAZINE FOR AVIATION EXECUTIVES IN THE MIDDLE EAST | VOLUME 19 ISSUE 08 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2020N TTTTTHTHTHTHTHTHTHHTHTTHHHTTTHTHHTHTTHTTHTHTHTTHTHTHHTTHHTHTHHHTHTTTTHHTHTTHHTHTHHTTTTTTEE E EEEEE E E EE EEE E EEEE EEEEE MMMMMMMMMMIMIMIMIMIMIMMIMIMIIMMMMMMMMIIIMIMMMMMMIMMMMIMIMIMMMIMIMIIMMMMIMMMMIMMMIMMMMMMMMMMMMMM DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDLELELELELELELELELEELEELEELELELEEEEEEELELELEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASASASASASASASASASASASSASASASAASAASASAAAAASSASAAAASAAASSASASSASA TT TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT | |||| | |||| ||| VOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOOVOVOVOVOOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOVOOVOVOOOVOVOVOVOOVOOOOVOOVOOOVOVOVOVVOVOOVOOVVOOVVOOOVOVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULULUULULLULULULUULLLULULULULULULULULUULULLULULULUULLULULULULULULUUMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMMMEMEMMMMMMMMMEMMMMEMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEE 11111111111119 9 9 99 9 999999 9999999 ISISISISISISISSSISISISISISISISISSSIIISIISSSSSSUSUSUSUSUSUSUSUUSUSUSUSUSUSUUSUUSSUEEEEEEEEEEEEE 00000000000000000000000088888888888888888888888888888888888 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Emirates seeks to avoid more crew, pilot lay-offs Wizz Air out to replicate huge European success in the Gulf Etihad and Boeing launch new sustainable aviation testbed IndiGo to cut 10% of workforce Boeing suffers 355 Max cancellations in fi rst half of 2020 Airbus deliveries down 50% in fi rst half of 2020 Jetex VIP terminals to serve world’s fi rst supersonic business jet 08 08 09 09 10 10 11 BUSINESS AVIATION MEBAA SHOW Region’s premier business aviation show set for December return 13 GALLERY BOEING 747 Qantas and British Airways wave good- bye to the queen of the skies 14 COVER JAZEERA AIRWAYS CEO Rohit Ramachandran explains why the LCC is in a strong position to bounce back compared to some of its rivals THE FRONT 24 12 TENDERS RED SEA AIRPORT Saudi’s sustainable, futuristic airport awards airside contractsAugust-September 2020 · AVIATION BUSINESS CONTENTS 4 www.aviationbusinessme.com SUSTAINABILITY AIRPORT CARGO The potential for and future of electric commercial aircraft Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffi ths on DXB’s recovery Munich Airport reinforces its role as an air freight hub 29 30 32 AVIATION PARTNERS INTERVIEW ROYAL JORDANIAN AVB revisits CEO Stefan Pichler to hear how Jordan’s fl ag carrier has had to adapt its turnaround plan during the Covid-19 crisis INSIGHT BAUER AVIATION ADVISORY Linus Bauer offers his expert insights on the current trends and forecasts in the commercial aviation market 34 INDUSTRY TALK UAE ASTRONAUT PROGRAMME We learn why the UAE is set up to be a rich talent pool to fuel the country’s space programme 20 16 SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATIONS TODAY For sponsorship enquiries: Benjamin McGladdery | Sales Manager Tel: +971 4 444 3227 Email: benjamin.mcgladdery@itp.com Anthony Chandran | Table Sales Executive Tel: +971 4 444 3685 Email: anthony.chandran@itp.com #AVBAwards GOLD SPONSOR CATEGORY SPONSOR Daniel Fewtrell | Director of Awards & Marketing Tel: +971 4 444 3684 Email: daniel.fewtrell@itp.com For nomination enquiries: Joe Peskett | Editor Tel: +971 4 444 3305 Email: joseph.peskett@itp.com Advanced T r aining a member of KHANSAHEB INVESTMENT NEW CATEGORIES RELEASED Celebrating 14 years of acknowledging excellence within the aviation sector in the Middle East, Aviation Business is pleased to bring you the Aviation Business Awards 2020. The Awards this year will also recognise businesses and individuals that have shone through adversity during the Covid-19 crisis with the introduction of four new categories. For more information, visit www.aviationbusinessme.com/awards or contact one of our team today. For event enquiries: August-September 2020 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com 6 EDITOR’S LETTER Joe Peskett Editor, Aviation Business joe.peskett@itp.com Twitter: @AVB_ME Facebook: facebook.com/AviationBusinessMiddleEast LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/aviation-business-me A s an aviation journalist, I have not been short of in- teresting stories in recent weeks but nuggets of good news have been far and few between. It was with great pleasure then that I recently covered the news of the UAE’s two new low-cost carriers gearing up for their respective launches. Air Arabia Abu Dhabi has already begun operating while Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is currently preparing two A320s for an October start. While air travel demand remains blunted, do- mestic and regional travel is expected to pick up sooner than long-haul journeys and so we can expect both carriers to start flying meaningfully relatively soon. Of course, the two launches have raised eyebrows among competitors who are sceptical that the businesses can both make a success of their ventures. Are they simply a marketing move? Will they struggle to establish themselves in a market gutted by a pandemic? Can they survive the consolidation the industry is expecting over the next couple of years? We don’t have an answer for these questions and only time will tell. But what we do know is that budget airlines in the Gulf region and beyond have actually been some of the most ro- bust throughout the coronavirus crisis. If managed well, the low-cost model has the potential to be one of the most profit- able and is inherently good at preserving liquidity. Jazeera Airways, one of the region’s most successful budget airlines, claims it has enough reserves to last it two years while Europe’s Wizz Air remains one of the most cash-rich busi- nesses of its type. Sceptics may doubt the potential of two new low-cost operators in an increasingly saturated Middle Eastern market, but the likes of Jazeera and Wizz Air are proof of the model’s ability. Excitingly too, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is relying on stimulating its own markets and getting people flying who have never done so before, which could boost the Middle Eastern market for all players involved. This is something all would welcome. LCCs could stimulate the Gulf market for the rest PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: + 971 4 444 3000 Web: www.itp.com Offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London & Mumbai ITP MEDIA GROUP CEO Ali Akawi Managing Director Alex Reeve EDITORIAL Editor Joe Peskett Tel: +971 4 444 3305 email: joe.peskett@itp.com ADVERTISING Sales Manager Benjamin McGladdery Tel: +971 4 444 3125 email: benjamin.mcgladdery@itp.com ITP LIVE General Manager Ahmad Bashour Tel: +971 4 444 3549, email: ahmad.bashour@itp.com PHOTOGRAPHY Senior Photographers Efraim Evidor, Adel Rashid STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS AASIYA JAGADEESH, YULIYA PETROVICH, FRITZ ASURO, AJITH NARENDRA, JESSICA SAMSON SENIOR IMAGE EDITOR EMMALYN ROBLES PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Group Production & Distribution Director Kyle Smith Production Manager Basel Al Kassem Production Coordinator Manoj Mahadevan CIRCULATION DISTRIBUTION & WAREHOUSE MANAGER Praveen Nair MARKETING Director of Awards & Marketing Daniel Fewtrell ITP GROUP CEO Ali Akawi CFO Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Subscribe online at www.itp.com/subscriptions The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. 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Published by and © 2020 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLCFOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Benjamin McGladdery, Sales Manager Tel: +971 4 444 3227 Email: benjamin.mcgladdery@itp.com TUNE IN TO THE NEXT SAM CHUI AVIATION BUSINESS PODCAST RADAR August-September 2020 · AVIATION BUSINESS 8 www.aviationbusinessme.com KLM tweaks Gulf fl ights Airline rebuilds Middle East network Emirates airline has offered its pilots and crew up to four months of unpaid leave in a bid to keep its workforce primed for when the industry and air travel demand begins to normalise. Dubai’s state-owned carrier has laid off thousands of crew and pilots in recent months because of the impact the pandemic has had on the demand for air travel. An internal email sent to pilots and crew in July said that employees, who have already had salaries cut, can take up to four months off between August and November. “As a result of recent and unexpected travel restrictions imposed by some coun- tries, an opportunity has arisen to offer our pilots and cabin crew unpaid leave. We have elected to offer this option as a short- Emirates seeks to avoid more crew, pilot lay-offs with unpaid leave WORKFORCE Pilots and crew can take up to four months of unpaid leave as Emirates looks to reduce its resources until pandemic subsides term measure to reduce our resources,” the email said. Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said earlier in July that the airline’s workforce is likely to be 15% smaller than pre-pan- demic levels, meaning 9,000 positions in total would in theory be lost. In an inter- view with Business Insider, Sir Tim said that Emirates’ management is reviewing the staffi ng situation weekly. Almost all of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has the potential to replicate the success of its European counterpart and expand to a fl eet of 100 aircraft in 15 years, according to the air- line’s CEO. Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air is Eastern Europe’s largest car- riers and is launching a subsidiary carrier in the UAE later this year as it looks to gain a foothold in the Gulf market. József Váradi said during an online session at FIA Connect – Farnborough Airshow’s digital replacement – that what Wizz Air can achieve in Abu Dhabi is “probably comparable” with what the busi- ness has been able to achieve in Europe. “If you look at Wizz Air Hungary, which is the European airline of the group, we’ve got into a 100-aircraft oper- ation over 15 years,” Váradi said. “I think Wizz Air out to replicate huge European success in the Gulf LOW-COST Eastern Europe’s leading budget airline reckons its ultra-low-cost model can stimulate its own markets in Abu Dhabi this is something we will be looking at for Abu Dhabi as well.” Wizz Air Abu Dhabi’s model will be based largely on stimulating new markets in the Middle East, which is yet to reach the level of maturity of the European scene. Váradi’s ultra-low-cost model will target people who may never have fl own before, of which there are many in the Gulf region. “Our model is not to take passengers away from existing incumbent carriers; our model is to create a market for ourselves,” he said. “We create a market ourselves by stimulating the market, taking the… bar- rier as low as possible for people to jump over and get into the franchise of fl ying.” Váradi said Wizz Air has already proven in Europe that it can stimulate its own markets, where “essentially legacy Emirates’ workforce is made up of expatri- ates who have moved to the UAE to work for the airline, meaning if they lose their job then they are likely to also lose their visa and have to return to their home country. “We are very, very alive to the fact that this is hugely diffi cult for the workforce because predominantly they’re expatriate and they’re not in their country of domi- cile, which means they have to be repatri- ated to where they come from, and a situ- ation which is pretty stark in terms of fu- ture employment,” Sir Tim told Business Insider. He said that the airline is ready to rehire staff rapidly when demand starts to improve. “If things pick up again sooner rather than later, we will bring them back so quickly their feet won’t touch the ground.” carriers today are fl ying the same amount of seats and capacity that they fl ew 15 years ago when we started”. Váradi said that Abu Dhabi’s location in the UAE makes it an ideal spring- board for growth in the Middle East re- gion and beyond. “You stand in Abu Dhabi… and within a radius of seven hours you have fi ve billion people,” he said. “That gives you immense opportunities to exploit in the future.” He added: “It is a scalable market, it is a growing economy.”RADAR 9 August-September 2020 · AVIATION BUSINESS www.aviationbusinessme.com Etihad, Boeing sign 787 fl eet maintenance deal Agreement includes Boeing’s CSP Etihad Airways is working with Boeing to test new technologies on-board a brand new 787-10 Dreamliner in an effort to make commercial aviation more sustainable. The initiative was unveiled at FIA Connect last month, a virtual event replacing the Farn- borough International Airshow 2020. From August, Etihad and Boeing will use the jet to test technology and operational techniques designed to reduce fuel consump- tion, noise pollution and CO2 emissions. The move follows on from Etihad and Boeing’s ‘Greenliner’ partnership, unveiled at the Dubai Airshow last year in a bid to improve effi ciency and cut aviation CO2 emissions. The 2020 iteration of the ecoDemonstrator programme will be the fi rst to use a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. “This is the latest programme under Etihad’s industry-leading strategic part- nership with Boeing, focusing on innovat- ing real-world solutions to the key sustain- Etihad and Boeing launch new sustainable aviation testbed INNOVATION Brand new 787-10 expands on Etihad and Boeing’s ‘Greenliner’ initiative announced at the Dubai Airshow ability challenges facing the aviation indus- try,” said Tony Douglas, Etihad Aviation Group’s CEO. “When we launched the partnership with the announcement of the Etihad Greenliner programme at the Dubai Airshow last year, we promised it was just the beginning of a deep, structural partner- ship between our two organisations that would go on to lead the industry towards a sustainable future.” Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Stan Deal said: “Industry collabo- ration is a key aspect of Boeing’s ecoDemon- strator programme that enables us to accel- erate innovation. We’re proud to broaden our sustainability partnership with Etihad Airways by testing promising technologies that can reduce emissions, help commercial aviation meet our climate goals, and allow the industry to grow in a responsible man- ner that respects our planet and its natural resources.” The two companies will work with the Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo is set to reduce its workforce by around 2,400 people (10%) because of the impact the coronavirus has had on air travel. Prior to the crisis, IndiGo was one of the fastest- growing airlines in Asia and its plans to expand its 250-strong fl eet of narrow- bodies made it Airbus’ largest customer. But CEO Ronojoy Dutta said that the pandemic has forced the airline to revaluate its plans and growth trajectory. While IndiGo still plans on taking deliveries from Airbus and replacing its entire fl eet of 120 A320 jets for newer A320neo’s, the airline is India’s largest low-cost airline IndiGo to cut 10% of workforce as it is forced to revaluate growth plans JOB CUTS India’s largest carrier will lay off around 2,400 employees but is yet to offi cially review massive jet order likes of NASA and Safran Landing Systems to conduct aircraft noise measurements from sensors on the airplane and the ground. The data will be used to validate aircraft noise prediction processes and the sound reduc- tion potential of aircraft designs, including landing gear, that are modifi ed for quieter operations. In addition, a fl ight will be conducted during which pilots, air traffi c controllers and an airline’s operations centre will simul- taneously share digital information to opti- mise routing effi ciency and enhance safety by reducing workload and radio frequency congestion. Test fl ights will be fl own on a blend of sustainable fuel, which signifi cantly lowers aviation’s environmental footprint. looking to cut costs by up to 40 billion rupees ($533 million). “It is impossible for our company to fl y through this economic storm without making some sacrifi ces, in order to sustain our business operations,” Dutta said in a letter to shareholders. Dutta said the cut was the fi rst time in IndiGo’s history that the airline has taken “such a painful measure”. “This is indeed a very unfortunate turn of events from the optimistic growth trajectory we had carved out for ourselves just six months ago; but this pandemic has forced us to re-evaluate our best laid plans.” According to fi gures from March 2020, IndiGo held almost 50% of the market share in India and had been a profi table business for the last 10 years. In October 2019 IndiGo placed one of the largest- ever Airbus orders for a single airline operator. It signed a fi rm order for 300 A320neos, comprised of a mix of A320s, A321s and A321XLR aircraft. The deal took IndiGo’s total number of A320neo aircraft orders to 730.Next >