Middle East Aviation Market


Monthly Middle East Airline Data Updates

DISCOVER THE BUSIEST AIRPORTS, AIRLINES AND COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST THIS MONTH | JULY 2025


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. 

 

Airline Capacity in the Middle East 


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.

Top 10 Middle East Country Markets 


 

Which Middle Eastern Country Has Most Airline Capacity?

  • The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the largest markets, with 8m and 7.4m seats respectively.
  • Capacity in Saudia Arabia grew by 10.3% (693,100 additional seats) and in the UAE by 6.2% (466,900 additional seats).
  • Of those in the Top 10, Israel saw the fastest capacity growth this month, up 19.6% year-on-year with 201,900 more seats compared to July 2024.
  • Capacity continued to decline in the Islamic Republic of Iran by 30% vs last year and in Iraq by 24.5%.

WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN NEW DATA IS ADDED

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Top Ten Middle East Airports


 

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.

  • 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?

  • Emirates remains the largest airline in the region, with the network carrier handling 3.3m seats - an increase of 3% vs July 2024.
  • Of those in the Top 10, Saudi Arabian Airlines, FLYNAS and Etihad Airways increased capacity most by 283,100 seats, 194,800 and 191,700 seats respectively.
  • Percentage-wise, the largest increase in capacity came from Etihad, FLYNAS and flyadeal increasing by 18%,17% and 17% respectively vs July 2024.
  • Qatar and Gulf Air continued to reduce capacity, taking 85,300 and 32,600 seats respectively out of the market vs last year.

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