The current war between Israel and Palestine’s Hamas
terrorists has led to plunge in flight bookings to the West Asia.
A Reuters report cited recent data collected by travel
analysis firm ForwardKeys, which revealed that the repercussions of this
conflict are being felt far beyond Israel’s borders, hitting countries like
Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon.
As the violence escalated, a wave of flight
cancellations to Israel ensued, prompting many global carriers to cease
operations to the country due to security concerns.
This disruption led to the cancellation of trips to
Israel by tour operators and a rapid decline in hotel bookings. However, the
instability caused by the conflict has expanded, resulting in a substantial
decrease in travel across the region.
Ticket purchases for flights to Egypt have seen a
stark decline of 26 per cent year-on-year, while travel to Jordan plummeted by
49 per cent, and bookings to Lebanon dropped by a staggering 74 per cent.
Reuters cited Olivier Ponti, Vice President of
Insights at ForwardKeys, who commented on these figures, stating, “Such a
drastic reduction in travel demand is entirely anticipated, given the scale of
the conflict and the ongoing humanitarian crisis.”
Multiple major airlines, including Lufthansa,
Eurowings, and Swiss Air, have decided to suspend flights to Lebanon in
mid-October, further exacerbating the decline in travel to the region.
Famous tourist destinations in the West Asia, such as
Petra in Jordan and Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, have long attracted visitors.
These areas often feature as stops on packaged tours that also include travel
to Israel.
However, data from ForwardKeys indicates that ticket
purchases for future trips to Israel experienced a dramatic 187 per cent drop
between October 7 and October 19 when compared to the same period last year.
A report by Bloomberg cited Shai Weiss, the Chief
Executive Officer of Virgin Atlantic Airways, who highlighted how the war has
deterred travel not only to Israel but also to surrounding areas in the West
Asia.
He explained, “The major impact has been, of course,
that people are not flying into Israel and they’re not flying also to the area
– into Jordan, into Egypt, into other locations.”
Weiss noted that the price of jet fuel has
considerably risen since the conflict began, adding to the financial strain on
airlines. United Airlines Holdings Inc also expressed concern over the war’s
impact, forecasting quarterly profits well below Wall Street’s expectations.
Weiss further indicated that the economic recovery in
the travel industry lags behind that of United States, saying, “The situation
remains unpredictable.”
In contrast, Delta Air Lines Inc CEO Ed Bastian
expressed optimism, expecting a “good landing” for US, suggesting that the
recovery timeline varies among different regions.
Agencies
