Middle East Aviation Market

Monthly Middle East Airline Data Updates

DISCOVER THE BUSIEST AIRPORTS, AIRLINES AND COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST THIS MONTH | DECEMBER 2024

Which is the biggest airline in the Middle East? Where is the busiest airport in the region? Which countries have the most airline capacity and how is this split between low-cost and mainline carriers? All of these questions and more are answered in our monthly Middle East aviation data analysis and commentary. Data is sourced from OAG's Schedules Analyser; a cutting-edge platform for airline schedule analysis. 

Last update: 3rd December with schedule data for December

 

Airline Capacity in the Middle East 

  • Capacity growth this month across the Middle East has slowed from 6.6% to 5.7% compared to last December.
  • Seat capacity this December is almost 23 million, up from 21.7 million last December.
  • Domestic capacity is still growing fastest, up 10% whilst international capacity is growing at a rate of 4.7%.

How is Capacity Split between Low-Cost and Mainline in the Middle East?

  • Low cost carriers continue to grow fastest in the Middle East region this month, up by 6.2% compared to last December.
  • Mainline carriers remain dominant in the region however with 71% of all capacity.

Top 10 Middle East Country Markets 

 

Which Middle Eastern Country Has Most Airline Capacity?

  • As we saw last month, Israel continues to record strong growth compared to last December since the outbreak of the current crisis, although capacity is still considerably down on December 2022.
  • Other markets seeing strong capacity growth are Saudi Arabia, where seats have increased by 9.9% year on year, and the UAE, with growth of 7.6%.
    Across these two countries, carriers have added almost 1.2 million seats this December.

WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN NEW DATA IS ADDED

Add your name to the list and we'll email you once a week with a round-up of the new aviation data added to our dashboards, the latest in-depth analysis from our air travel experts, travel technology news, easy to digest infographics and more.

Top Ten Middle East Airports

 

Which is the Busiest Airport in the Middle East?

  • Dubai, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi's Zayed International airports are all recording strong growth this month, with increases of over 200,000 additional seats compared to last December.
  • The gap between Doha and Jeddah has narrowed this December to just 138,000 seats as Jeddah benefits from the strong growth taking place across the Kingdom. 
    Two of the Top 10 airports in the region, Kuwait (KWI) and Muscat (MCT) in Oman continue to see capacity fall this month.

  • Busiest Airports in the World - data on the busiest global airports | View Now

Top Ten Middle East Airlines (One way, departing seats) 

 

Which is the biggest Middle Eastern airline?

  • Fastest growing of the Top 10 largest carriers this month is Etihad, with growth of 22% compared to last December. This equates to 205,000 additional seats, taking their monthly capacity to 1.1m seats this month.
  • flyadeal has also seen a significant increase in capacity, up by 21% this month, with 150,000 extra seats.
  • The carrier adding most seats of the Top 10 is Saudia, with an increase of 254,000 seats this month.

MORE RESOURCES FROM OAG

 

China Aviation market Data

The busiest airports, largest airlines, biggest cities for airline capacity and more

View Data

US Aviation Market Data

This month's leading airlines, airports, states and more from the US market.

View Data

South East Asian Aviation Market Data

SE Asia's biggest country markets, airports, airlines and more are updated each month.

View Data

Infographics

View the latest easy to digest aviation data infographics.

View Now

Webinars

Catch up on our latest live webinar with industry experts.

Watch Now

Aviation Market Analysis

Analysis of the latest data and developments in the aviation world.

Read Now