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 40,005,884 scheduled airline seats, +8.37% year-on-year 

• Airline capacity across the Middle East is expected to increase by 8.4% in January 2026 vs the same month last year, to 40m seats.
• International capacity, which represents 88.2% of the market, grew by 9.2% year-on-year, adding 3m seats to reach 35.3m.
• Domestic capacity represents 11.8% of the market and is growing more slowly, up by 2.8% year-on-year.
  

*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 (LCCs) represent 28% of capacity in the Middle East this month, an increase of 11.2% compared with January 2025.
• Mainline carriers make up the remaining 72% of capacity in the Middle East, and grew by 7.2% year-on-year to reach 28.8 million.
  

*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 Middle East’s busiest airport this month, with 5.5 million scheduled seats. Doha follows with 3 million seats, and Jeddah is close behind with 2.9 million seats in January 2026.
• The fastest-growing airport in the Top 10 is once again Tel Aviv, with capacity up 43.6% year-on-year - an increase of 304,900 seats compared to January 2025.
• Riyadh and Sharjah also experienced double-digit increases of 17.8% and 17.2% respectively.
  
  
• READY TO VIEW: The World's Busiest Airports of 2025