DAVOS: The Middle East’s rise as a global aviation hub has been “absolutely incredible” and should be a source of pride, according to Hassan El-Houry, chairman at Menzies Aviation.
Speaking to Arab News recently at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, El-Houry said the region’s aviation growth over the past two decades demonstrates that “the impossible is possible.”
“In 20 years the Middle East has become an absolute hub for aviation. It’s absolutely incredible. It really makes us proud.”
He added: “The Middle East started from a very low base. If you go back 20 years, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Saudi Arabia — they were not transit hubs.
“I remember traveling to London or Europe or East Asia, and in hotels, you’d see four clocks — San Francisco, New York, London and Tokyo. Today, there’s one in the middle: Dubai. Finally, the Middle East is now seen as a hub, and it’s great.”
Looking ahead, he said the projections for the region were positive. “We’re forecasting 300 percent growth over the next 10 years in aviation and almost $200 billion in investment in airports.
“This outpaces any other region. It’s absolutely incredible what we’re going to see over the next five (to) 10 years for the Middle East, particularly the GCC,” he said.
And globally, he said the outlook was similarly bright, while reflecting on the unprecedented challenges the industry faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That shows two things: first, we’ve fully recovered from COVID-19, which is great, and second, it shows the resilience of the aviation sector,” he said.
“We had literally the largest and most impactful crisis, which challenged the aviation sector. We lost a lot of people who worked in aviation — they sought jobs elsewhere, and rightfully so. A lot of investment went elsewhere,” he added.
Despite these setbacks, El-Houry emphasized aviation’s crucial role in the global economy and its ability to connect people. “Governments were asking themselves, why should we invest in aviation when it’s so sensitive to shocks?
“What we can see now is that aviation is resilient and is absolutely critical to the global economy, to domestic economies, for people. Connectivity matters. People want to connect, people want to see each other.
“Just look around here at WEF in Davos — not a single person is wearing a mask. That just shows that people want the human connection, and aviation’s resilience makes that happen,” he said.
While optimistic about global and regional progress, El-Houry expressed some concerns. “One region which has not fully recovered is Africa, which has been struggling for many reasons — debt, inflation, some geopolitical issues, and lack of investment,” he said.
“Africans make up 17 percent of the world’s population but only 2 percent of the world’s travelers, a statistic that has remained unchanged in the past 10 years. I’d love to see Africa bridge that gap and develop.”
He called for greater investment and attention to the continent, highlighting the potential of aviation to unlock economic and social opportunities.
El-Houry concluded with a clear message for world leaders that aviation must be treated as an economic priority. “Aviation is no longer a privilege for the 1 percent. It’s super important for everybody across the socio-economic spectrum.”
“In the past, governments used to look at aviation as another way of taxing the 1 percent. Today, aviation is important for education, for healthcare, for family connections, for trade — everything.
“So, let’s make sure that aviation remains a priority, a pillar of the economy, and super important for economic growth,” he urged.
