Saudi aren't really in the hub airline market. They provide a domestic network, flights to neighbouring countries, international routes tailored towards their migrant workers and rich locals going shopping or doing business. Now and again they will pop up in a search as a possible option for a connecting flight but it's not their bread and butter. Riyadh and Jeddah aren't the best of airports to transit through, there is no alcohol allowed and until very recently entry requirements were highly restrictive. Kuwait Airways are the same but without the domestic part. These airlines aren't reliant on connecting passengers and will be much less affected as they don't need to worry about filling three A380s a day into Bangkok with pax joining from other cities on the network.
The ME3 all have common problems with the reduction in demand for long haul international travel, particularly in the premium cabins. Transit restrictions and pax preference will be for direct flights and it will be easy for governments to assist their own airlines by placing restrictions on the ME3 for "health reasons". Cabin crew in particular tend to live in shared accommodation in a few common buildings and would flag up as a high risk straight away. Large parts of their networks will remain off limits for some time to come and keeping out of the Indian subcontinent which is a major market for both pax and migrant workers will be costly and difficult.
Emirates aircraft are now too big and they will find it difficult to fill them up and maintain reasonable connection times. They don't have the flexibility of smaller aircraft which allow capacity and frequency to be more finely adjusted to match supply and demand across the network.
EY have managed to lose money even in the best of times and now it will only get worse.
Qatar were losing money due to the blockade, however their mix of aircraft was better and downsizing to A320/B787 is an option which could give them a head start. The lifting of the blockade is a huge factor in this case.
Airlines such as Finnair or EVA Air which offer transits through low risk countries could grab market share in the meantime. Vietnam Airlines could become a major operator on the London to Australia route. Airlines such as these will have a head start as restrictions are lifted.
The Middle East offers many advantages such as location, tax and labour laws. The question isn't about if it's finished as a hub, but if it will retain the same level of importance in the future.
Last edited by krismiler; 14th Jun 2020 at 10:14.