Arab Air Carriers' Organization

Arab Air Carriers' Organization

الإتحاد العربي للنقل الجوي
Formation	August 25, 1965; 58 years ago (1965-08-25)
Headquarters	Beirut, Lebanon
Official language	Arabic
Secretary General	Abdul Wahab Teffaha
Chairman of the Executive Committee	H.E. Eng. Ibrahim Al Omar
Website	www.aaco.org

The Arab Air Carriers' Organization (الإتحاد العربي للنقل الجوي) is a non-profit organization with 36 member airlines from 19 countries within North Africa and the Middle East and home-based in country members of the Arab League. The countries are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon. The AACO members collectively offer 3,900 daily flights to 430 airports in 122 countries.

History

AACO was established on 25 August 1965 upon the recommendation of the Transport Committee of the League of Arab States and the endorsement of the Arab transport minister with 13 founding members. ^[1][2][3]

Basis of AACO`s work

AACO translates its vision and mission through four different pillars which are: joint collaboration, external representation, awareness, and networking.

The Arab Air Carriers’ Organization (AACO) provides a framework for cooperation among its members in many areas such as Environment, Aeropolitical Affairs, Digital Transformation, Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), In-flight Medical Emergencies, Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO), Distribution, Emergency Response Planning (ERP), Aviation Security, Training through AACO’s Regional Training Center, and others.

• Member airlines – Membership in AACO is available to Arab airlines operating both scheduled and non-scheduled flights, internationally or domestically, mixed or cargo, in the following categories:
  • Active Member: Airlines operating scheduled international services.
  • Associate Member: Airlines operating charter or non-scheduled operations and airlines operating pure domestic flights.
• Partner airlines – AACO Partner Airlines, established in 2010, enables non – Arab airlines to join AACO as partners and benefit from the platform of cooperation between its members through AACO joint work to achieve tangible economic benefits.
• Industry partners – AACO Industry Partnership, established in 1996, provides the platform through which manufacturers, service and system providers and others can communicate with potential customers to offer their products & services through joint AACO forums, and network with member airlines through various AACO forums.

Members

Member airline[4]	Joined	Airline alliance
Afriqiyah Airways	2002	—
Air Algérie	1971	—
Air Arabia	2004	—
Air Cairo	2007	—
Badr Airlines	2015	—
EgyptAir[A]	1965	Star Alliance
Emirates	1989	—
Etihad Airways	2004	—
flyadeal	2023
flydubai	2014	—
FlyEgypt	2017	—
flynas	2012	—
Gulf Air	1971	—
Iraqi Airways[A]	1965	—
Jordan Aviation	2004	—
Kuwait Airways[A]	1965	—
Libyan Airlines	1970	—
Mauritania Airlines	2015	—
Middle East Airlines[A]	1965	SkyTeam
Nesma Airlines	2022
Nile Air	2014	—
Nouvelair	2011	—
Oman Air	1997	Oneworld (in 2024)
Palestinian Airlines	1999
Qatar Airways	1997	Oneworld
Red Sea Airlines	2023
Riyadh Air	2023
Royal Air Maroc	1974	Oneworld
Royal Jordanian[A]	1965	Oneworld
Saudia[A]	1965	SkyTeam
Sudan Airways[A]	1965	—
Syrian Air[A]	1965	—
Tarco Aviation	2019	—
Tassili Airlines	2012	—
Tunisair	1972	—
Yemenia[A]	1965	—

^A Founding member

Partners

• International Airlines Group
• Malaysia Airlines (Oneworld)
• Pegasus Airlines
• Turkish Airlines (Star Alliance)

Locations

• AACO Headquarter: Beirut Harbor 1504 building, George Haddad Street, Saifi Area – Downtown, Lebanon
• RTC Amman: 12 Abdallah Ben Omar Street, Shmeisani, Amman – Jordan
• RTC Cairo: Cairo International Airport, EgyptAir Training Center, S-Building, Third Floor, Cairo, Egypt

Regional Training Center (RTC)

AACO Regional Training Center (RTC) was established in 1996 in Amman – Jordan with financial support from the European Commission and the two major aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, with the main objective of providing training for AACO members to be conducted in the region. AACO's RTC provides industry courses in many aviation management and other specialized fields, and also provides customized courses in aviation, travel and tourism-related affairs. Its objective is to provide training and human resources development, and to assist airlines in achieving savings in their training budgets.

In the fourth quarter of 2009, the regional training center expanded its activities to include specialized courses in aviation and training programs to enhance the skills of students in the Arab region. This expansion resulted in the graduation of over 20,000 trainees. To meet the increased training needs of AACO Member Airlines, a new branch of the training center was opened in Cairo.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

AACO's AGM is the highest authority in AACO and is attended by the CEOs of the Member Arab Airlines. The AGM is held once annually to develop and present strategies and a roadmap for AACO. The Annual General Assembly of AACO brings together the CEOs of member airlines in addition to a number of aviation stakeholders and industry partners, as well as the international and local press.

Forums

AACO Forums aim at providing platforms for communication and networking between members, partner airlines, regulators, associations and suppliers in the aviation industry.

Publications

• The NASHRA – Industry's Pulse & Arab Aviation – is AACO's official monthly bulletin that is distributed electronically in the English language. For a more interactive experience and for the ease of access to the readers, The Nashra was re-designed in 2013 and became available in digital format (E-Magazine) on mobiles, tablets, and PCs. The Nashra is a monthly recap of aviation in the Arab world on a regional and international level.
• AACO Annual Report includes a review of the work conducted by AACO projects’ steering boards, work groups and task forces, in addition to the latest industry updates in the Arab world region and worldwide.
• AATS – Arab Air Transport Statistics: This annual bulletin highlights the major operational developments related to the Arab airlines and airports as well as a synopsis on the world air transport developments at large, in addition to statistical information about general trends of the economy with emphasis on the air transport and tourism sectors in the Arab world. The bulletin includes brief information about each AACO member and partner airline.
• 3D Insight “AACO Quarterly Bulletin” is an electronic statistical and analytical bulletin in English.
• Regulatory Update is a monthly electronic bulletin that covers all updates on aviation regulatory affairs in the Arab region and the world for the previous month.
• Regional Training Center catalogue is a detailed description of the yearly training courses.

References