Doha, Qatar: As global aviation picks up and summer winds down, the Cairo to Doha route has emerged as the sixth busiest route in Africa and among the top in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to data from the Official Airline Guide (OAG).
The Busiest International Routes by Region classification put the number of seats on the Cairo-Doha route at 115,926 seats in the last week of August, nearly 10,000 seats more than July 2023 record. Global capacity has fallen this week by 1.3m seats, a drop of 1.2% on the previous week, OAG disclosed, putting the decline in numbers to the seasonal norms.
It added that capacity for the next four weeks is now expected to fall to around 113.3m, and weekly capacity will drop to approximately 97.5m per week from the start of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) winter season.
According to travel experts, the increase in regional aviation numbers, particularly in the MENA region, was down to summer vacations and the easing of health and political restrictions between the countries. Irfan Omer, General Manager of Happy Dreams Travels, told The Peninsula that several flights to Egypt, Dubai, Riyadh and Bahrain were fully booked, with demand continuously rising.
Last month, Qatar Tourism revealed that Qatar received more than two million visitors during the first half of 2023. The statement disclosed that international arrivals in 2023 have doubled compared to the pre-pandemic levels.
A recent IATA report also noted that Middle Eastern airlines’ June traffic climbed 29.2% compared to June last year, while globally, traffic is now at 94.2% of pre-COVID levels.
Meanwhile, in the OAG report, the Cairo to Jeddah route tops the Africa and the Middle East with 415,639 seats recorded, while the Cairo to Riyadh was second in the Africa route.
Cairo to Kuwait, Cairo to Dubai and Algiers to Paris CDG completed the top five in the Africa route. In the Middle East, Dubai to Riyadh, Dubai to Jeddah, Cairo to Riyadh and Dubai to London Heathrow made the top five.
Globally, Hong Kong to Taipei recorded 426,170 seats in the last week of the month to bag the top spot as the Busiest International Airline Route, up from the third busiest previous month, with 2% more seats than last month. Cairo to Jeddah moved back to the second busiest international route this month, while Kuala Lumpur to Changi completed the top three.
