UAE airports on track to exceed 100% traffic recovery soon: Iata

UAE airports on track to exceed 100% traffic recovery soon: Iata

March has been the busiest month for the first quarter of 2023, with 7.3m passengers

Passengers at Dubai International Airport. On Tuesday, Dubai’s main airport, Dubai International (DXB), raised its passenger traffic forecast for the year by five million to 83.6 million. — KT file

Published: Wed 10 May 2023, 8:19 PM Last updated: Wed 10 May 2023, 8:20 PM

The Middle East is playing a major catalyst role in the revival of the global aviation industry with leading aviation hubs including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia on track to exceed the 100 per cent recovery soon, experts said on Wednesday.

Speakers at the Global Airport Leaders’ Forum (Galf), which celebrated its milestone 10th edition at the Airport Show, were upbeat with their forecast of a fast-rebounding aviation sector as they saw passenger traffic in the region gaining full recovery in 2024 and growing 4.2 per cent annually through 2040.

Kashif Khalid, regional director, Middle East and Africa, International Air Transport Association (Iata), said that the aviation industry recovery is on track with a strong start to 2023. The Middle East is leading the traffic numbers in terms of recovering globally at 93 per cent of the pre-2019 levels, he said.

On Tuesday, Dubai’s main