Middle East airports to handle 1.1 billion passengers by 2040

  • Date: 29-Mar-2023
  • Source: Gulf Business
  • Sector:Transport
  • Country:UAE
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Middle East airports to handle 1.1 billion passengers by 2040

The Airport Council International, a Montreal-headquartered organisation of airport authorities, forecasts that close to 19.7 billion passengers will travel to airports around the world by 2040. By that year, the Middle East airports are expected to handle 1.1 billion passengers – more than double the 2019 figure of 405 million passengers. Airports in the Middle East will therefore need to invest around $151bn in capacity expansion. Aviation market intelligence source, CAPA – Centre for Aviation, added that are 425 major construction projects at existing airports worldwide, with $450.7bn in total committed expenditure globally. Its database further indicates that the total number of airport projects and the volume of investments in Middle East are 155 and $209.4bn respectively. With over 110 airports, the Middle East is already believed to be among the fastest growing in the world. Several key airport expansion projects are underway in the region. In the UAE, work on the Sharjah International Airport’s terminal expansion will begin this year and is expected to be completed by 2026. The airport handled about 13.1 million passengers in 2022. The expansion will increase the terminal’s capacity to accommodate about 20 to 25 million passengers by 2026. The $4.36bn Kuwait Airport’s Passenger