Tuesday May 19, 2026
Tuesday May 19, 2026
Tuesday, 19 May 2026 02:12 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has resulted in an estimated $ 900 million to $ 1 billion revenue loss for nine major Middle East airports over a two-month period, according to an assessment by Airports Council International Asia-Pacific and Middle East (ACI APAC and MID) in partnership with Flare Aviation Consulting.
This represents a 55% shortfall against a budgeted $ 1.3-1.4 billion in expected revenues, driven primarily by steep declines in passenger and cargo traffic and placing significant cash flow pressure on airport operators with high fixed-cost infrastructure commitments.
Passenger traffic across the nine airports fell by an estimated 27 million travellers during March and April 2026, marking a 54% year-on-year (YoY) decline, according to the report. The sharpest impact was recorded in March, when 14 million passengers were lost (down 57%), followed by a further 13 million decline in April (down 50%).
In 2025, the same airports handled around 324 million passengers, underscoring their critical role in global connectivity between Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and highlighting the scale of disruption across major international transit corridors.
The assessment, covering the period from the onset of the conflict through 30 April, found that the nine airports operated at an average of just 53% of pre-conflict scheduled flight capacity, falling as low as 32% on the first day before recovering to around 63% by late April.
The disruption also removed nearly one-fifth of global East-West connecting capacity, affecting roughly 97,000 daily transit passengers who typically move through Middle Eastern hubs.
Cargo operations were similarly affected, with volumes falling 52% YoY to 571,000 tonnes, compared with 1.19 million tonnes in the same period of 2025.
March saw the steepest decline at 59%, while April showed partial recovery but remained 43% below prior-year levels, revealed the report.
The report also highlighted significant increases in airfares on Asia-West routes, where prices more than doubled in March and remained around 50% higher by mid-year due to reduced competition and constrained capacity.
Meanwhile, airport charges remained unchanged due to regulatory frameworks, despite growing pressure on aviation economics.
It noted that Asia-Pacific traffic trends remained broadly resilient, though routes to the Middle East saw declines.
A survey of 28 airport operators found that rising jet fuel prices—rather than supply shortages—are the key operational challenge, with prices nearly double pre-conflict levels. Airports and governments have been urged to strengthen fuel security and contingency planning as conditions remain volatile.
