Transportation

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Mideast airlines to deliver industry’s highest profit margins in 2025

The region's airlines are forecast to hit a profit margin of 8.7% in 2025, slightly lower than last year's figure of 8.9% but the highest in the industry.

This picture shows a Syrian Arab Airlines Airbus A320-200 aircraft and the control tower at Damascus international airport as the new Syrian authorities prepare to reopen it, on December 16, 2024.

Saudi Arabia's flyadeal joins growing list of airlines flying to Syria

Several regional airlines have resumed or plan to resume flights to Syria.

Iranian Muslim pilgrims head to Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, during the climax of the Hajj pilgrimage, on June 27, 2023.

Saudi airline to resume Hajj flights to Iran after 10-year hiatus: What to know

A Saudi-operated flight landed in Tehran last weekend as Iran and Saudi Arabia seek to expand their air connectivity.

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Qatar Airways reports highest-ever yearly profit of $1.7B

The Gulf airline said in a statement it was the strongest financial performance in its 27-year history.

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Analysis

Trump’s Gulf trip lifts embattled Boeing with Qatar, UAE deals

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (R) sits next to US President Donald Trump as he speaks to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg (L).

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Mideast airlines suspend Pakistan flights following Indian strikes

Pakistan flights

United Arab Emirates

Israel pounds Yemen after Houthi missile strike near Tel Aviv airport: What to know

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Mideast airlines cancel flights as outage closes Heathrow Airport

Heathrow

United Arab Emirates

A commercial aircraft takes off from the runway of Beirut's international airport near the city's southern suburbs on Aug. 9, 2024.

Lebanon bars Iranian flight from landing in Beirut, sparking protests

The incident marks the latest in a series at the Beirut airport, which has been a key point of tension between Iran and people within Lebanon’s government who are cautiously distancing themselves from Iran’s influence.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, accompanied by his son, X Musk, speaks to the press as President Donald Trump looks on in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025.

Elon Musk's Boring Co. to build Dubai Loop network of tunnels

The loop is a network of underground tunnels, similar to one being developed in Las Vegas, that allows passengers to be transported nonstop, in electric vehicles, to 11 stations.

United Arab Emirates

A Union flag flies above a hangar as a British Airways operated Airbus A747 passenger jet is moved by an aircraft tractor at Heathrow Airport, west of London on April 2, 2020, as life in Britain continues during the nationwide lockdown to combat the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Saudi Public Investment Fund takes 15% stake in London's Heathrow Airport

Spanish construction giant Ferrovial said it had closed the sale of a 19.75% stake in the UK capital’s busiest airport for 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) to the PIF and French investment firm Ardian.

SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images

Airbus becomes latest multinational to open regional HQ in Saudi Arabia

The European plane maker aims to develop local talent and technological expertise in the fast-growing Gulf market.

A man climbs the ramp to enter the Boeing 777X demonstration aircraft at the 2021 Dubai Airshow in the Gulf emirate, on Nov. 14, 2021.

Emirates Airline 'frustrated' at aircraft shortage due to manufacturer delays

Executives at the Middle East’s largest airline have frequently expressed their dismay over delays and uncertainty around the delivery of the Boeing 777-9X jets.

United Arab Emirates

An aircraft of Middle East Airlines (MEA), Lebanon's flag carrier, takes off from Beirut International Airport on Oct. 6, 2024 amidst smoke rising from nearby sites targeted overnight by Israeli air strikes in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.

Feature

Flying despite Israeli attacks, Middle East Airlines becomes symbol of pride for Lebanon

As a growing number of airlines cancel and reroute flights in the region to avoid conflict, Lebanon's flagship carrier has provided a sense of stability amid turmoil.

Amberin Zaman

Beatrice Farhat

By Amberin Zaman , Beatrice Farhat

An Airbus A350 plane of Qatar Airways from Doha parks after it landed at Berlin's airport "Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt", during the opening of the southern runway of the airport, in Schoenefeld, southeast of Berlin, on November 4, 2020. - Passenger flights are to began landing on October 31, 2020 at Berlin's new international airport, a moment many Germans thought they might never see after years of embarrassing delays and spiralling costs. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AF

Qatar Airways suspends Iran, Lebanon flights, joining growing list of airlines

Amid conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, few airlines are operating in and out of Tel Aviv, and fewer still in and out of Beirut and Tehran.

Defence Secretary John Healey visits RAF Akrotiri, during a visit to Cyprus to meet troops as the government steps up efforts for a potential evacuation of Lebanon.

US, China, France, others weigh Lebanon evacuation plans for nationals

The situation in Lebanon and the region has quickly deteriorated, prompting several countries to come up with plans to secure the safe evacuation of their nationals from the country.

A Middle East Airlines commercial aircraft taking off from Beirut's international airport flies amid smoke billowing above the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes, on Sept. 28,2024.

Middle East airlines alter, axe flights following Iran missile attack on Israel

Late on Tuesday, Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in what it said was in retaliation for last Friday’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the chief of Lebanon-based militia Hezbollah.

Uber, China's WeRide to launch self-driving robotaxis in UAE

WeRide already operates the largest robotaxi fleet in the UAE, where residents can access its robotaxi services through the TXAI app.

United Arab Emirates

Boeing

Analysis

Turbulent skies: How Israel-Iran tension is disrupting global aviation

Military action — and even the mere anticipation of conflict — often trigger widespread disruptions in airspace management, affecting commercial and cargo flights across the globe.

Mehran Haghirian

By Mehran Haghirian

The low-emission container ship Antonia Maersk by Danish shipping company A.P. Moller - Maersk is seen behind containers during its christening at the harbor of Aarhus, Denmark, on August 9, 2024. The ship sails on green methanol. (Photo by Mikkel Berg Pedersen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) / Denmark OUT (Photo by MIKKEL BERG PEDERSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Maersk's $250M logistics park means for Saudi Arabia

Danish logistics company remains invested in the Red Sea despite continued threats to shipping from Yemen's Houthi militants.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics