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 37,096,329 scheduled airline seats, +5.98% year-on-year 

• Capacity across the Middle East is expected to increase by 6% in September 2025 vs last year, to 37.1m seats.
• International capacity - representing nearly 89% of the market - increased by 7.1% year on year, adding 2.2 million seats to reach a total of 33 million.
• Domestic capacity represents 11.1% of the market and contracted by 2.2% vs September 2024.
  

*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?

• Low-cost carriers make up 28% of Middle East capacity this month, up 9% from September 2024.
• Mainline carriers represent the other 72% of market capacity, growing 4.9% year on 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 5.1m seats. Doha is the next largest airport, with 2.7m seats.
• The airport with the fastest growth rate in the Top 10 is Tel Aviv again this month, up 22.9% which is 220,500 more seats than September 2024.
• Riyadh and Jeddah have the largest seat increases in September 2025, adding 302,100 and 263,700 seats compared to last year.
  
  
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