The shift toward online meetings, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, has taken on new momentum in the UAE and Gulf, driven this time not just by rising airfares but mounting pressure on corporate margins as well.
Business travel across the Middle East had largely bounced back to pre-pandemic levels before the recent regional war disrupted the recovery. But in the weeks since the ceasefire, executives say the return to face-to-face meetings has been selective at best.
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“In the last six weeks post the ceasefire, companies have allowed only essential business travel,” said Mohammad Osama, chief executive officer at GRG.
“Higher airfare costs is only one factor. The more prominent factors are travel safety advisory guidelines – particularly for multinationals – and rising energy prices squeezing margins, forcing firms to cut overheads across the board,” he added.
Airfares have substantially increased since March 2026 due to a jump in jet fuel prices after the US-Israel-Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of Adnoc, the Hormuz closure has resulted in over a 20 per cent jump in airfares.
As reported by Khaleej Times, airfares are likely to stay around 30 per cent higher this year compared to last year due to high jet fuel prices and reduced airline capacity owing to flight restrictions and airspace closures.
Osama noted that even before the conflict, the pandemic had permanently reshaped meeting culture. Depending on the industry, between 35 per cent and 55 per cent of meetings that were previously conducted in person moved online and stayed there. Since the ceasefire, an estimated 20 to 25 per cent of backlogged face-to-face meetings have resumed – those deemed truly irreplaceable – while the remaining 75 per cent to 80 per cent have been substituted with virtual alternatives.
Safety anxiety outweighs ticket prices
Analysts tracking the aviation sector say the cost of a plane ticket is one of the factors when firms opt out of travel.
“Airfares may be one factor, but the shift to online meetings is driven more by firms not wanting staff marooned overseas if hostilities resume and there’s no way back home,” said Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research. “The sheer uncertainty around the conflict means that conducting uninterrupted business remotely carries zero risk.”
He added that while the ceasefire holds, many businesses are pressing ahead to reignite investor confidence – but with one eye firmly on the horizon.
Hybrid model here to stay
For talent and organisational advisory firms operating across the region, the picture is less about crisis management and more about a deliberate strategic recalibration.
Vijay Gandhi, regional director for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Korn Ferry Digital, said his firm has not observed companies pulling back from travel purely on cost grounds.
“Most firms continue to prioritise in-person engagement where it adds value, particularly for client-facing and strategic interactions,” he said.
Gandhi described the emerging pattern as one of greater intentionality rather than outright replacement.
“What we are witnessing is not a replacement of in-person meetings, but a more balanced, hybrid approach. Companies are leveraging virtual meetings for efficiency while reserving travel for interactions where personal presence drives stronger outcomes.”
The consensus across executives and analysts points to a regional business landscape that has been durably reshaped – first by a pandemic, then by conflict – into one where the default question before booking a flight is no longer logistical, but strategic.
