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 39,097,867 scheduled airline seats, +4.52% year-on-year 

• Capacity across the Middle East is expected to increase by 4.5% this month vs last year to 39.1m seats.
• International capacity, which represents 88.7% of the market, grew by 5% vs July 2024, adding 1.7m additional seats to reach 34.7m seats.
  
• Domestic capacity represents 11.3% of the market and grew by 0.8% vs July 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 represent 28% of Middle East capacity this month, with a 10.2% increase compared to July 2024.
• Mainline carriers account for the remaining 72% of the capacity in the market and grew at a slower rate of 2.4% 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 2.8m seats.
• The airport with the fastest growth rate in the Top 10 is Tel Aviv again this month, up 18.1% which is 184,500 more seats than last July.
• Zayed International (UAE), Riyadh, and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) also saw strong double-digit growth, with increases of 14.8%, 12.7%, and 12.7% respectively compared to last year.
• Capacity declined again this month at Doha, the second largest airport, reducing by 0.5% vs July 2024.
  
  
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