Dubai Jet Billionaire Says Oil Spikes Risk Bankrupting Airlines

For Dubai-based billionaire Gediminas Ziemelis the aviation industry is experiencing a sense of deja-vu amid the Middle East conflict: grounded planes, plummeting demand and no clear sense of when it might all be over.

During the Covid pandemic six years ago, when a global shutdown hit demand for planes on short-term lease from his Avia Solutions Group, he shifted to air cargo to keep afloat. Now, he plans to move a significant part of Avia’s 145 jets from Europe to Asia and Brazil as the Iran war interrupts flight schedules across the region and curbs demand in Europe.