Middle East Aviation Market

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. 

In The middle East this month there are 40,097,284 scheduled airline seats, +5.38% year-on-year 

• Capacity across the Middle East is expected to increase by 5.4% this month vs last year, to 40.1m seats.
• International capacity, which represents 88.1% of the market, grew by 5.7% vs Aug 24, 1.9m additional seats to 35.3m seats.
• Domestic capacity represents 11.9% of the market and grew by 3% vs Aug 24.

*As of July 2025, international capacity is reported on a two-way basis (previously one-way departing).

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

• LCCs account for 27% of capacity in the Middle East this month, growing by 5.5% vs Aug 24.
• Mainline carriers account for the remaining 73% of the capacity in the market and grew by 5.3% vs last year. 

*As of July 2025, international capacity is reported on a two-way basis (previously one-way departing).

Which is the Busiest Airport in the Middle East?

• Dubai (DXB) remains the region's largest airport again this month, with the hub handling 5.3m seats.
• Doha is the next largest airport, with 2.9m seats.
• The airport with the fastest growth rate in the Top 10 is Tel Aviv again this month, up 19.7% which is 196,200 more seats than last Aug.
• Double digit increases also came from Sharjah, Riyadh and Zayed , with 12.7%,11.1% and 10% growth respectively vs last year.
  
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