Ex-IATA country manager speaks out on aviation issues

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KAMAL: airlines “panicked” over fuel price hikes.

Former IATA country manager UAE Ibrahim Kamal has criticised the way in which airlines have reacted to the fuel crisis and environmental issues.

“None of the airlines have handled this (the fuel crisis) well,” he told ATN in an exclusive interview.

“Fuel prices increased very steeply over a short period of time and they panicked. They immediately took the decision to increase prices without properly informing the public.” He said some senior airline executives had claimed their airlines were covering a percentage of fuel price costs and not passing on the burden to customers in the form of higher prices or fuel surcharges.

“But is this true?” he said. “We just don’t know. There needed to be more transparency from the start, now airlines need to be more professional.”

Kamal also noted that while European carriers such as British Airways and Lufthansa were making progress on environmental issues, many Middle East airlines had been lethargic towards making their operations more ‘green’.

“Environmental issues are not taken as seriously in our region as they are in America or Europe,” he said.

“In the Middle East, governments are not considering any actions or threats against airlines on environmental grounds so they are under no real pressure to change.”

Kamal was speaking after leaving IATA a few months ago.

He declined to comment as to the reasons for his departure. A new country manager has yet to be appointed.

For details on the full interview with Ibrahim Kamal, see the September edition of Arabian Travel News.

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