Perhaps I wonder if the eastbound traveller refers to the Gulf Cooperation Council? Possibly that might be an oxymoron and that's quite appropriate really since it was the battle of the Oxus River in the 7th century that led to the downfall of the last Sassanid emperor and the conquest of Persia by the Muslim Arabs. That's got nothing whatsoever to do with aviation of course except that Yazdegerd III, the defeated emperor, flew to China where he was killed by a humble miller.