July's webinar took place during Farnborough International Airshow week, and while we eagerly waited for aircraft orders to be announced, it was the perfect time to stop and take stock of the Middle East's exciting aviation market today. Perfectly placed to help us look at the data and the stories behind it was Trent Mumford, VP of Aviation at the Saudi Tourism Authority.

Following the usual summary of capacity growth trends, Deirdre, John and Trent dived into the Middle East data with a look at the top 5 largest country markets, where United Arab Emirates has most capacity this month, and all but one - Israel - shows strong growth in Summer 2024 compared to Summer 2023.

Among the many insights shared during the webinar, Trent touched on the Cairo-Jeddah route, which is one of the busiest in the world, and sees a mixed market profile, with labour traffic, religious traffic, high-end tourism and business all being in the mix. Deirdre points out that this is the kind of market airlines strive for- you don't want to be too heavily reliant on any one group.

A look at the data for capacity to Saudi Arabia from China shows that the market is on-track for huge 132% growth in 2024 vs 2023, with the number of inbound seats going from 108,000 in 2023 to 252,000 in 2024. China will play a key part in Saudi Arabia reaching its Vision 2030 tourism targets.

For more insight, analysis and expert opinion watch the webinar in full below, and download the slides to access the charts and data shared during the presentation.

Watch: Middle East Aviation Market Catch Up

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