middle east

U.S. State Department Global Travel Warning & Why No One Cares

This afternoon the United States’ State Department issued a Worldwide Travel Alert for United States citizens globally (which links back to a February 19 2013 worldwide travel warning).   Travel warnings from the State Department have become a little bit like Chicken Little yelling, “the sky is falling.”  Travel cautions are constantly released, and worldwide…

Don’t You Hate When Pilots Defect In The President’s Jet?

The State of Eritrea, a relatively young nation, gaining its independence in 1993, located in the Horn of Africa, is not a nation known for its human rights.   In 2009 twelve members of the National Football Team defected in Kenya during the CECAFA Cup, being granted asylum by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees,…

Kuwait’s US$6,000,000,000 Airport Blunder

The Middle East’s airline industry is growing at an unbelievable pace; the airlines in The Gulf States are among the fastest growing airlines in the world and the largest in the world. The UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are pouring money into their airlines building global presences, Bahrain’s national airline while in significant distress is…

El Al CEO Claims Airline Can’t Join Alliance Due To Anti-Semitism … What?

El Al, Israeli’s national flag carrier, has been facing tough economic times. The airline faces continual competition from larger regional competitors; rising fuel costs and geo-political issues impacting is business.   It is no secret that Israel has few friends in the region, but the airline is a vital economic link for the country.   As…

Gulf Air Goes Straight For Its Passengers Hearts

Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national flag carrier, has facing some significant hurdles recently. On the heals of Gulf Air dealing with financial troubles, an inability to break free of government funding as intended, increased competition in the region and route restructuring, Bahrain has been rocked by political unrest, riots and a public violent divide as citizens…

Egyptair Rationalizes Israel Route Map Omission

Yesterday on Flying With Fish I wrote about Egyptair’s new route map leaving Tel Aviv blank on its route map, despite the airline flying there in this post – Politics & Airline Route Maps … Egyptair Omits Israel This morning Egyptair sent me two messages via Twitter regarding this omission.  The first Tweet from @FlyEgyptair…

Politics & Airline Route Maps … Egyptair Omits Israel

Airlines publish route maps on their websites and their in-flight magazines to advertise where they fly. An airline omitting a destination they service, with their aircraft and their crew, from their route map makes little sense, but Egyptair’s newly released route map omits a single destination … Israel’s Tel Aviv. Egyptair’s new route map shows…

Israel & Royal Jordanian Airlines – A New Middle East Conflict

Israel is fiercely protective of its State Airline, El Al … and not just in terms of its superior operational security … but also when it comes to protecting the airline’s financial interest. Israel’s protection of El Al is now creating a rift with one of the few nations in the Middle East that Israel…

Saudi Arabian Airlines : An Overlooked Sleeping Giant

Saudi Arabian Airlines is the latest airline to launch in-flight wifi connectivity and allow passengers to utilize their mobile phones while in flight … and it signals Saudi Arabian Airlines‘ potential march toward the forefront of Gulf State carriers. While I have largely stopped writing about airlines installing wifi on flights due to the rapid…