Dubai most popular with air travellers

Dubai remained the most popular destination among travellers from Bahrain International Airport last year, with more than one million passengers heading to the Emirati city in 2023, while the number of passengers to Istanbul has seen a significant decrease, according to an annual report.

The Civil Aviation Annual Statistics Report 2023 stated that a total of 8.7m passengers travelled through the airport last year, a 26 per cent increase from 2022.

The report was released by the Transportations and Telecommunications Ministry, in co-operation with Bahrain Airport Company, Bahrain Airport Services, Bahrain Aviation Fuelling Company and DHL Aviation.

“The increase in passengers showcases the robust demand for air travel and Bahrain’s continuing appeal as a tourist destination,” the reports said. “Bahrain International Airport has solidified its status as a key transit hub in the Middle East, demonstrated by an increase in transfer passengers, reflecting the airport’s enhanced connectivity and service quality.”

In 2023, the airport served as a transit hub for more than 4m passengers from the GCC, comprising 46 per cent of the aggregate passenger count. The Indian subcontinent ranked as the second-highest source of air travellers, with 2.2m passengers representing 26pc of the total traffic.

POPULAR DESTINATIONS

For the second year in a row, Dubai remained the most popular destination among passengers, with 1,133,013 travellers, a 25pc rise from 2022, which had 904,814 in total.

The second most popular destination was Riyadh with 522,319 passengers, a 24pc increase from the previous year, which had 422,369.

London Heathrow in third, was the most popular European destination with 485,527 passengers, a 14pc increase from the previous year which saw 425,838 people travel to the British capital.

Mumbai was the most popular destination in South Asia, with 281,695 passengers, a 55pc increase from the previous year’s 181,237 passengers.

The African destination with the highest passenger traffic was Cairo with 231,878 travellers, a 4pc increase from 223,232 in 2022.

Manila was the most popular Far East destination with 211,802 passengers, a 13pc increase from 187,321 in 2022.

Meanwhile, Istanbul saw a significant decrease in traffic with 221,729 passengers, a 39pc decrease from the previous year, which saw 365,295 travellers.

AIRCRAFT TRAFFIC

According to the Airport Traffic Summary, a total of 93,648 aircraft made their way through the airport in 2023, with 46,804 landing, and 46,844 taking off. This is a 13.5pc increase from 2022, which saw a total of 82,487 aircraft (41,134 landing and 41,353 taking off).

Around 80pc were passenger flights, 16pc were cargo, 1pc were private flights, and 3pc were flights for other purposes.

The busiest month for aircraft movement was December with 8,769 aircraft (4,389 landing and 4,380 taking off), while April, which coincided with most of Ramadan, saw the lowest numbers with 6,858 aircraft (3,435 landing and 3,423 taking off).

Since records began in 2000, the highest traffic reported at the airport was in 2010 with 106,356 aircraft (53,453 landing and 52,903 taking off).

Meanwhile, the lowest recorded to date was in 2020, with 38,182 in total (18,901 landing and 19,281 taking off) coinciding with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

AIRLINE PERFORMANCE

A total of 8,711,018 passengers went through the airport, a 27pc increase from 2022, which saw 6,888,284. Out of that, 4,391,856 passengers disembarked, 4,313,105 embarked, and 6,057 transited.

Most airlines witnessed a growth in the number of passengers, with Gulf Air remaining by far the most popular carrier from the airport.

Bahrain’s national carrier witnessed a 22pc growth, 5,813,899 passengers, compared to 4,761,999 in 2022.

The second most popular choice was Fly Dubai with 494,909 passengers (88pc growth) followed by Air Arabia with 282,886 (28pc growth), Emirates with 248,135 (1pc growth), and Etihad with 186,755 travellers (25pc growth).

IndiGo Airlines registered the highest growth (252pc) with 160,981 travellers in 2023 compared to 45,678 the year before.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines suffered the biggest decline with a 45pc drop in passengers – 7,032 in 2023 compared to 12,765 the year before.

Other airlines that suffered decline in passengers include Turkish Airlines (26pc drop) with 183,929 passengers, Wizz Air (18pc drop) with 35,192 passengers, Lufthansa (3pc drop) with 26,814 passengers and KLM (13pc drop) with 20,480.

In terms of market share, Gulf Air had the highest amount, with 67pc, followed by Fly Dubai (6pc), Air Arabia and Emirates (3pc each), Etihad Airways, Turkish Airlines, IndiGo Airlines and Air India Express (2pc each) and Kuwait Airways and Qatar Airways (1pc each). Other airlines account for the remaining 11pc.

SUMMER SCHEDULE

During the summer season, from March 26 to October 27, Gulf Air frequented a total of 58 destinations over 510 weekly flights.

The most frequent destination in the GCC was Dubai with 49 weekly flights, while in the Middle East and North Africa region, Cairo and Amman had the most with 14 each.

In the Indian Subcontinent, Delhi had the most flights with 21 per week, London and Istanbul led Europe with 14 each, and Manila was the most frequent Far East destination with nine weekly flights.

Ten new destinations were added – Bodrum, Malaga, Casablanca, Mykonos, Athens, Sharm El Sheikh, Alexandria, Milan, Nice and Doha.

There were also four weekly chartered flights to Trabzon, Sarajevo, Bursa and Tirana.

Other airlines had 328 weekly flights, with the most common being FlyDubai to Dubai with 45 flights, Qatar Airways to Doha with 42 flights and Air Arabia to Sharjah, Emirates to Dubai and Etihad Airways to Abu Dhabi with 21 each.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1318333/Dubai-most-popular-with-air-travellers