MUSTAFA ABDEL AZIM (DUBAI) - The seat capacity of airlines operating through Abu Dhabi International Airport during the first 10 months of 2023 increased to 10.92 million for scheduled one-way seats compared with 8.13 million seats recorded during the same period of last year, posting a growth rate of 33.6%, according to data from global travel data provider OAG.
The data from the UK-based company showed that airlines operating through Abu Dhabi International Airport added about 302,000 new seats to their flights in October, bringing the scheduled seat capacity this month to 1.23 million seats, compared with 930,000 seats for the same month last year, registering a growth rate of 32.3%.
Data obtained by Aletihad indicates that the seat capacity of airlines operating through the airports of the United Arab Emirates in general has increased during the January-October period of this year, reaching 64.93 million seats on scheduled one-way flights, compared with 51.56 million seats for the same period last year.
This marked a growth of 26%, and has added 13.35 million new seats since the beginning of the year. The increased number of seats reflects the continuous recovery in travel movement and its return to pre-pandemic levels. According to the data, airlines operating in the UAE’s airports scheduled 6.917 million seats on international departing flights in October, with a growth of 21% compared with the same month of last year and about 7.9% compared with the peak levels of October 2019, prior to the onset of the COVID pandemic.
The scheduled seat capacity on flights through Dubai International Airport from January to October of this year was about 46.67 million seats, compared with 36.5 million seats for the same period of last year, recording a growth of 27.6%.
The scheduled capacity for October alone was about 4.86 million seats, compared with 4.11 million seats for the same month last year, witnessing a growth of 18.2%. As for airlines operating through Sharjah International Airport, the seat numbers increased to reach 715,027 in October, compared with 670,279 seats recorded during the same month of last year, recording a growth of 6.6%.
This brings the total seat capacity for one-way scheduled flights since the beginning of the year to about 6.838 million seats, compared with 6.08 million seats for the same period last year, with a growth of 12.3%.
The data also indicated that the UAE accounted for 31% of the total scheduled seat capacity for airlines operating in airports in the Middle East region during October, with the regional carriers recording 22.289 million scheduled seats this month.
The data showed that the air traffic route between the UAE and India ranked seventh globally in terms of the busiest airline routes between countries.
The seat capacity on flights between the two countries increased in October to 2.03 million seats, with a growth of 8.7% compared with 2019 levels and 2.2% compared to the same period of last year.
The UAE ranks first among the top 20 air transport markets in the world in terms of growth in scheduled seat capacity for flights in its international airports, according to OAG data.