Lewis Harper

Lufthansa Group believes there are “opportunities and challenges” created by conflict in the Middle East as fuel prices rise but customers seek alternatives to flying through the region’s global hubs.

While countries in the Middle East region are well-versed in handling regional conflicts, the latest escalation of hostilities is on a scale that has not been seen for some time. The US and Israeli attacks on Iran have prompted the latter to launch its own attacks on targets in countries such as Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This has essentially grounded commercial aviation in much of the region amid airspace closures and security concerns.

Air France-KLM is likely to make a decision soon on replacing its ageing Boeing 777-300ERs, as it continues with a group-wide fleet transformation effort. “We are going to look at – probably sooner rather than later – a replacement for our long-haul Boeing 777-300ER aircraft when you look at how the order books are at both Airbus and Boeing,” said group chief executive Ben Smith during an earnings call on 19 February.