More than 378,000 employees in the UAE’s aviation industry are now at risk of unemployment or loss of income due to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday.
The workers are employed with airline companies, airports, suppliers, service providers, and other businesses related to passenger air travel, said Muhammad Ali Albakri, IATA’s regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East (AME).
The potential job or income losses in the UAE will be the highest in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. In Saudi Arabia, some 287,000 jobs are also at risk due to lockdowns and cross-border travel restrictions.
Across the region, the number of jobs at risk now stands at 1.2 million, up from approximately 900,000 from the previous estimates, while the revenue loss is estimated to be $24 billion and the loss in GDP contribution forecast to be around $66 billion.
In the Middle East region, the hardest hit will be Saudi Arabia’s airlines, with an estimated $7.1 billion revenue loss, followed by the UAE ($6.8 billion), Egypt ($2.1 billion), Iran ($1.8 billion) and Morocco ($1.6 billion).
The pandemic also puts at risk about $23 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) contribution supported by air transport in the UAE alone. In Saudi Arabia, the loss of GDP contribution is estimated to be $17.9 billion.
