SAO PAULO: Argentinians and Brazilians are celebrating the launch of new flights between their countries and the Arab world — a sign of the growing economic and cultural relations between the two regions.
Some of those routes used to be active but were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Others are new endeavors resulting from the perception that the number of passengers and goods between South America and Arab nations will keep growing in the coming years.
During the ITB Berlin Convention — one of the world’s major tourism fairs — in March, Qatar Airways announced that it will resume a number of international flights, including one to Argentina.
Since 2010, the airline had a daily flight between Doha and Buenos Aires with a stopover in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, but it was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
News website Infobae reported that at the convention, Ricardo Sosa, executive secretary of Argentina’s National Institute of Tourism Promotion, met with executives from the UAE’s Etihad Airways. They discussed a potential flight between Abu Dhabi and Buenos Aires.
Sosa said Etihad operated a flight to Sao Paulo years ago, and now Argentina is seen as a possible destination in the airline’s expansion plan. That would be the first direct flight between Asia and Argentina.
Infobae reported that Sosa also met with executives from EgyptAir and discussed the establishment of a flight between Buenos Aires and Cairo.
Spanish airline MasterFlights recently announced that it will operate direct charter flights between Cairo and Sao Paulo using EgyptAir planes.
The first flight is scheduled for Sept. 4. The flights will take place every Monday for a year, and connections will include Amman, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Istanbul and Egyptian cities.
According to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce — known as CCAB in Portuguese — direct flights between Egypt and Brazil operated by EgyptAir have been discussed by the countries’ presidents. An agreement with the airline is being negotiated.
“The deal is about to be signed. After that, it must be ratified by the Egyptian Parliament. We consider that it can happen this year,” CCAB CEO Tamer Mansour told Arab News, adding that the announcements made by Middle Eastern airlines regarding South America show that the relationships between the two regions are being strengthened.
“Those new flights demonstrate that the Arab world is seeing South American countries, especially Brazil and Argentina, as significant destinations, both for tourism and investments.”
Mansour said Argentina and Brazil play a key role in exporting food — especially grains, beef and poultry — to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Arab nations.
In 2022, Argentina’s exports to the Middle East and North Africa reached $8.6 billion. Brazilian exports to the Arab world grew 23 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year, reaching $17.7 billion — the highest annual figure since 1989.
“Arab countries expect those nations’ economies to keep growing, and partnerships with them in several areas are already happening,” Mansour said, adding that Sao Paulo is a major business hub for Arab executives, and direct flights make it easier for them to visit their home countries.
“Buenos Aires, on the other hand, is a highly appreciated tourism destination for many Arabs.”
Alfredo Abboud, secretary-general of the Argentinian Chamber of Commerce and Services for the UAE, told Arab News that the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which took place in Qatar, had a very positive impact on tourism between Argentina and the Middle East.
“There was much ignorance regarding the Arab world in Argentina, but after visiting Qatar, many Argentinian tourists saw the truth and realized that the views disseminated by the media are wrong,” he said.
The Argentinian Embassy in Doha estimated that 35,000-40,000 Argentinian football fans traveled to Qatar for the tournament, Agence France-Presse reported.
Abboud said he expects continuous growth in Argentina’s trade with Middle Eastern countries, adding that in recent years the country has been exporting a wide range of products, including industrial goods.
“But the major element for us has to be food. That’s what we’ve always produced. And the Arab nations see us as partners that can offer food security for them.”
Abboud said “a potential cargo flight” to Argentina “operated by a Saudi airline” is being discussed.
He expressed hope that with more flights, bilateral tourism will grow, “and with more tourists, Argentina may expand a halal structure of restaurants and hotels.”
He said there are few halal hotels in Argentina, and a state policy is needed in order to develop the appropriate Muslim-friendly network.
Muslim visitors can already find many halal options in Brazil, said Ali Saifi, CEO of Cdial Halal, a certification company in the country.
Last year, he took part in the process of transforming the Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu, on the border with Argentina and Paraguay, into a halal destination.
“Now the number of tourists coming from the Arab world will certainly grow. Direct flights help our countries to get closer,” he told Arab News.
The new routes will also allow more Latin Americans to visit the Middle East, said Marcos Destro, who directs GoToBEY, a tourism agency that focuses on the Arab market.
“Most of our clients are Brazilians of Arab descent. With the decline of the pandemic, many of them have been feeling an urge to know their ancestral land,” he told Arab News.
New routes will allow them to get there without stopovers. “Direct flights will also help people traveling to other destinations. Dubai Airport is already a major hub, as well as Istanbul,” Destro said.
Mansour expressed hope that Middle Eastern airlines’ interest in Latin America will keep growing in the coming years. “Maybe we’ll have new flights from Saudi Arabia and Morocco soon,” he said.
