Flight Friday: Healthy Growth For The Middle East’s Major Carriers, LCCs

The six-month countdown has started for the Dubai Airshow—the largest aviation trade show in the Middle East, to be held Nov. 17-21—therefore, this week’s Flight Friday looks at how the top 10 operators by passenger flights in the region have been flying over the last 12 months.

It comes as no surprise that Emirates, Qatar Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) are the largest three when it comes to number of flights. Emirates flight cycles have remained reasonably consistent over the last 12 months, with an average of a little over 14,500 cycles per month, while Qatar Airways averages almost 2,000 more cycles per month, in part due to the large narrowbody fleet that rack up cycles quickly. Saudia, on the other hand, has averaged over 15,000 cycles—but there have been times when Saudia has operated almost 17,000 cycles in a month.

In the utilization battle of the LCCs, flydubai operates on average the most monthly flights at a little over 10,000. Air Arabia, flyadeal and Flynas have all seen an uptick in aggregated monthly flight cycles over the most recent 12 months, showcasing healthy growth in the Middle East LCC sector.

Etihad Airways, Gulf Air and Oman Air complete the top ten. Etihad’s flights are on the upswing with additional deliveries of aircraft into its fleet; with an outstanding orderbook of almost 100 aircraft, Etihad’s aggregated flight cycles will continue to grow as aircraft enter its fleet. Gulf Air and Oman Air have the smallest fleets, therefore the lower rates, but with both having another 11 aircraft on their respective orderbooks, the numbers could rise.

This data was put together using Aviation Week’s Tracked Aircraft Utilization database.