00:00Let's get some more expert analysis on the travel impact of all of this with Paul Charles,
00:05Chief Executive of the Travel Consultancy, the PC Agency.
00:09Joining us from Sao Paulo, which, as I understand, you're not usually based there, Paul.
00:13I hear that you're actually stranded there due to this disruption.
00:17That's correct. I've been stranded for a couple of days due to aircraft being out of place and going tech,
00:24so they're out of their maintenance.
00:27And, of course, this is one of the issues at the moment,
00:29that airlines all over the world are finding that their usual processes are completely up in the air.
00:35They're having to have planes on the ground in unusual places that they're not expecting those aircraft to be.
00:41As a result, maintenance programs go out of the window.
00:45Crews are in the wrong place. Pilots are in the wrong place.
00:48And that will be affecting well over a million people at the moment,
00:52passengers all over the world who can't get to or from the Middle East.
00:57And just give us a sense of why it is so severe.
01:00Of course, Dubai Airport, many people, many viewers will be familiar with it.
01:03So many flights connect there.
01:05It's a major hub.
01:06So is Doha.
01:07So is Abu Dhabi.
01:09Huge airline hubs.
01:10Just how many passengers do pass through there every day?
01:13I believe it's something like 250,000 a day just in Dubai.
01:17Yes, I mean, Dubai, of course, has just announced it carried 97 million people through its airports last year.
01:24So very, very popular indeed in the region.
01:27So when Dubai or Doha or Abu Dhabi airports close,
01:32then, of course, it has a major impact on the global chain of airlines,
01:37not just in the Middle East region or through to Europe,
01:40but globally, even here in Sao Paulo, at the airport, I was at the airport yesterday,
01:46there are two Qatar Airways planes on the ground here in Sao Paulo because they can't fly to Doha.
01:52So even as far as South America is being affected by this.
01:55Yes, these airports are highly popular.
01:57They've grown hugely over the last few years because of the popularity of taking a vacation
02:03or doing business in the Middle East.
02:06And, of course, it's the uncertainty that airlines are not able to prepare for.
02:11They don't know when airspace in the region will reopen.
02:15And that means for many passengers, they're simply having to wait day by day
02:19as to when they may get on a flight again.
02:22And, of course, it is far too early to really be able to answer this question.
02:26But can you get a sense if this is going to be a really sustained period of disruption?
02:32Or can the system adjust quite quickly in a few days to major hubs and airspace being closed like this?
02:39It's very difficult to adjust.
02:41This is the most major shutdown really since the pandemic, since COVID.
02:46Our airlines eventually coped with that and came out of it pretty well.
02:50But, of course, if they have no visibility on when airspace will reopen,
02:55and at the moment nobody is expecting it to reopen before the 4th or the 5th of March,
03:01so it's still a few days off, then they're really unable to offer too much advice.
03:06And they're relying on governments, in fact, to maybe bring their citizens out of the conflict zone,
03:12which may yet occur.
03:14However, governments are asking their citizens to sign up to online sites
03:18so they know where their citizens are in case they have to airlift them out
03:22if this situation worsens.
03:24But for airlines, it's the whole supply chain affected,
03:27not just passengers, but also the cargo that goes in the belly of the aircraft.
03:32And, therefore, the global supply chain for cargo is also dramatically affected.
03:38And, moving from the airline industry specifically to the broader tourism sector,
03:44of course, you know, there is a conflict going on here.
03:47This isn't to compare the experience of tourists to people in a war zone.
03:51But, really, not long ago, this would have been kind of unthinkable.
03:55People really enjoying holidays in Dubai.
03:58It's become a very popular tourist destination.
04:00But we're seeing video of a luxury hotel being hit by a missile in Dubai.
04:05I mean, this instability must be doing really serious damage
04:09to the Gulf's reputation as a safe destination.
04:13Well, I think it depends how long this conflict goes on for.
04:17It's early days, thankfully,
04:19and everyone obviously hopes this will be over very quickly.
04:23And the region, of course, has seen conflicts on this scale previously,
04:28just last year, in fact, with Iran being targeted.
04:30And it bounced back very quickly and led to still record volumes of people
04:36going into the region to take a holiday.
04:38So, I think we need to see how long this is going to go on for.
04:42But they do have a reputation for bouncing back very quickly, indeed,
04:46these destinations, because at the end of the day,
04:49they remain very popular for tourists from all over the world,
04:52as well as business people, of course.
04:54Of course, yes.
04:54Well, Paul, I hope you're able to get a plane back home to London fairly soon.
04:58Thank you so much for joining us.
05:00Really great to get your insight here.
05:02Paul Charles, Chief Executive of the Travel Agency,
05:04or Travel Consultancy, rather, the PC Agency.
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