In 2000, the Middle East ranked globally as the seventh largest region with 70 million seats per annum. This year expectations are for 257 million seats, within touching distance of South Asia which is dominated by the Indian domestic market.
There is certainly a “bigger is better” feel to the Middle East market with the larger network carriers posting exceptional levels of profitability in 2023. Emirates’ latest six-month results reported a US$ 2.7 billion profit and Qatar Airways (for the same period) a US$1.0 billion profit. With both carriers confident of stronger second halves to the year we can expect record-breaking announcements in the next few weeks from those airlines.
Vision 2030 has a target to reach 300 million air passengers by 2030, 100 million of whom will be tourists (however that classification is determined). Naturally, there is huge confidence within the local market that Saudi Arabia will reach its targets under Vision 2030 and indeed, realizing even half of their aspirations would be a remarkable achievement.
