Gulf's economic transformation will drive air traffic, IATA says
Kamil Al-Awadhi, the association's Middle East chief, said countries in the region have spurred air traffic by hosting global business, political and sporting events.
The Middle East is set to be one of the fastest-growing airline markets in the next decade, and sweeping economic transformation plans adopted by many of the Gulf countries will stimulate air traffic in the years to come, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Middle East chief.
IATA represents some 300 airlines in about 120 countries, comprising around 83% of the world’s air traffic.
An Oliver Wyman report released in March projects the Middle East to grow by 5.1% annually over the next decade, making it one of the fastest-growing markets in the world.
Asked what will drive this growth, Kamil Al-Awadhi, IATA regional vice president for Africa and the Middle East, told Al-Monitor, “The main factor is the growth in the economies of the Middle East region, largely led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, but also the growth in GDP of major source markets that the Middle East airlines service such as the Indian sub-continent, China and Asia Pacific.”
