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remained limited in April, despite the ceasefire from April 8; inset, Willie Walsh


m h


Gulf carriers’ recovery l,


Travel growth hindered as uncertainty persists


ANALYSIS:Demand remains resilient but hardly robust, says Ian Taylor


TheHokey Cokey dance that the US-Iran ‘peace talks’ have become might be entertaining were the situation not so serious. The latest turn of events, which


saw President Trump rein in Israel’s assault on Lebanon after Iran threatened to end all intermediary talks, at least showed a willingness not to make things worse after the US and Iran traded strikes on Monday and sent oil prices rising again. This came after a White House meeting supposedly to sign off on


48 4 JUNE 2026


a ceasefire extension and basis for further talks failed to agree anything. Trump’s subsequent exhortation to “just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end” did not suggest a president with a grip on events or grasp of the situation. As we entered the fourth month of


the confrontation and ninth week of a ‘ceasefire’ with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, the evidence suggests travel and consumer demand for it remain resilient but hardly robust. Iata data for April showed a mere


3.4% fall in global air passenger traffic year on year and 5.3% fall in international traffic, but with international demand up almost 2% excluding the Middle East, which saw a 48% decline. The halving of traffic via the region


is striking given Emirates resumed services on most of its network from April and the ceasefire from April 8 saw Qatar Airways and Etihad also


Continued on page 46 travelweekly.co.uk


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PICTURES: Shutterstock/SergeyKustov; Iata


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