TODAY: Qatar Airways intends to buy a 25% stake in Virgin Australia

Good morning, folks. It’s a busy news morning, with big acquisition updates from Qatar Airways this morning and the latest on how rising escalations from Israel and retaliatory moves from Iran are affecting regional airspace. Let’s dive right in.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- Regional airspace closes in response to Iranian missile fire: Iran fired some 200 missiles at Israel last night in a massive escalation of regional violence, with the Israeli army saying it has intercepted most missiles and reporting one dead in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was a “big mistake” and vowed retaliation during the opening meeting of his security cabinet yesterday, with the US promising to support Israel in its retaliation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Sayed Abbas Araqchi said Iran’s attacks were “finished,” unless Israel retaliates, in which case their response will be “stronger and more powerful” on X a few hours ago.

UAE carriers are rerouting and canceling flights in response to airspace restrictions following the attacks, Khaleej Times reports. Etihad Airways is rerouting flights today, while Emirates had to cancel and reroute others. Flydubai also had to cancel several flights scheduled yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq all temporarily closed their airspace for a few hours last night in response to Iran’s attacks.

The Iranian attack is getting plenty of play: Reuters | AP | BloombergCNN | BBC

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- European firms discuss building electrolyzer factory in Egypt’s Sokhna: Representatives from Norwegian firm Scatec, Belgian company John Cockerill, Italian company Relay, and French company SLB met with Egyptian Minister of Industry and Transport Kamel El Wazir to discuss building a factory in Egypt’s Ain Sokhna to manufacture electrolyzers used in generating hydrogen, according to a statement. The officials examined the specific roles of each of the three companies in the green hydrogen production process, their manufacturing capabilities, and the scale and quality of the equipment utilized in producing electrolyzers.

#2- DP World moving forward with expansions in Mozambique: DP World chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi met earlier this week to discuss developing industrial parks across the country and expanding Maputo Port, according to a statement. The firm looks to boost investments in Mozambique to strengthen its presence in the country and enhance trade with wider southern Africa, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

Background: DP World has operated in Mozambique for over 20 years, remaining the longstanding operator at the country’s Maputo Port. The firm inked an agreement in January to extend its concession at Maputo till 2058. The company has invested USD 600 mn in expanding port infrastructure, and is looking to boost cargo handling capacity from 170k to 530k TEU annually by 2027, according to the statement.

MARKET WATCH-

#1- Oil prices surged over USD 1 in early morning trading on the back of growing concern regarding Middle East escalations, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures rocketed 1.36%, or USD 1, to USD 74.56 a barrel by 03.30 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude gained USD 1.07 trading at USD 70.90 a barrel. Both crude benchmarks surged over 5% in trading yesterday.

#2- Baltic continues its decline: The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index — which tracks rates for the capesize, panamax, and supramax vessel segments — plummeted 2.6% to 2,030 points on Tuesday due to lower reading across the board. The capesize index dropped 125 points to 3,524 points, while the panamax index lost another 28 points to 1,386 points. The smaller supramax index fell another 13 points to 1,283 points.

Opec+’s joint ministerial monitoring committee is expected to leave its oil output policy unchanged when it meets at 3pm KSA today, Reuters reports, citing five unnamed sources from the group. The expectation that the group is likely to stick to its current output policy, which includes plans to phase out the voluntary production cuts starting December, comes despite oil prices falling below USD 70 / bbl for the first time in three years.

DATA POINTS-

Qatar’s Mwani processed 5% more vessels m-o-m in September 2024, reaching 249 vessels, according to a statement. The number of containers handled increased 9% m-o-m to 125k TEUs, while general and bulk cargo increased by 48% to 162k tons and livestock volumes increased by 18% to 28.3k heads.

Dubai International Airport (DXB) raised its annual passenger forecast to 93 mn for 2024, up from a previous estimate of 91.8 mn, operator Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffits said at an event, according to the National. In 2025, DXB is expected to see 93.8 mn passengers travel through the airport. The airport handled 44.9 mn people in 1H 2024, up 8% y-o-y.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Bahrain will host the Routes World forum from Sunday, 6 October to Tuesday, 8 October. The event will bring together VPs and network planning heads from some 250 carriers to discuss global air route networks.

Saudi Arabia will host the Global Logistics Forum from Saturday, 12 October to Monday, 14 October in Riyadh. The forum will gather key industry players, government officials, and industry experts to discuss optimizing operations and driving growth in the logistics sector. The event will take a specific look at how the sector can adapt with regards to global climate change and incorporate sustainability into their supply-chain operations.

Saudi Arabia will host the Global Airport & Aviation Forum from Wednesday, 16 October to Thursday, 17 October in Jeddah. The forum will bring together aviation leaders and experts to discuss future projects in the aviation industry, including new airport developments, capacity upgrades and expansions, new aircraft orders, and important airport services.

Saudi Arabia will host the Smart Ports & Logistics Transformation Summit on Monday, 21 October and Tuesday, 22 October in Riyadh. The two-day conference aims to discuss strategies, innovation, and technologies in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to position KSA as a logistics hub in the MENA region.

The UAE will host the International Conference on Tourism, Transport, andLogistics on Saturday, 26 October and Sunday, 27 October in Dubai. The event will gather scientists, scholars, and engineers from around the world to discuss new ideas and research development projects in the industry.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.