Dubai leads in airport connectivity rankings

Arabian Post Staff

Dubai Airport leads the preliminary direct connectivity ranking for 2023 in Middle East and Asia-Pacific, according to the Airport Connectivity Report, launched by the Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific and Middle East (ACI APAC & MID) at the launch of its Middle East office in Riyadh.

The report reveals that air connectivity in the Middle East stands out with +26% growth in total connectivity in 2022 vs 2019, with direct connectivity to destinations in North America, Asia-Pacific and Africa witnessing the strongest recovery post COVID 19, with Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs) driving the growth. On the contrary, Asia-Pacific has seen a decline in air connectivity by -38% in the same period.

Several key factors contribute to the decline in air connectivity, including extended travel restrictions due to COVID-19, limitations on air traffic rights, constraints on airport slots, rising airfares, economic downturns, and geopolitical tensions.

This decline in air connectivity, coupled with increasing airfares, illustrates its negative impact on the recovery of air travel and the resultant inconvenience to passengers. From the passenger’s perspective, connectivity is essential for mobility, providing significant economic and social advantages. Nevertheless, preliminary rankings for 2023 suggest a positive outlook for the region.

Direct connectivity from APAC to other regions was still lagging behind as of 2022, although Low-Cost Carrier’s are driving capacity growth. Airports with annual passenger volumes of 1 to 40 MPPA led the recovery, while larger airports were impacted by China’s Zero-COVID strategy with a blanket ban on international travel. Middle-sized airports, such as King Khalid International Airport (Riyadh) with a +75% recovery and Hamad International Airport (DOH) with a +42%, stood out.

Preliminary 2023 connectivity rankings show significant improvements in seat capacity to China from selected 100 airports, rebounding by a remarkable +937% in August 2023 compared to August 2022, but still with a large margin to grow in 2024.

Also published on Medium.