This week in aviation, global air demand continues to rise, while airlines like Turkish Airlines and Saudia expand their offerings and reach new milestones. New partnerships are blossoming while new routes are transforming connectivity across continents, offering travellers more options than ever before. Here’s a closer look at the latest developments in Middle East aviation sector.
IATA shares global air passenger demand data
Global air travel demand continues to show strong growth, with revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) rising by 8% YoY in July 2024. Middle Eastern carriers specifically saw a 5.8% YoY demand, a 5.5% capacity YoY increase, and an 84.1% load factor. These increases, reported by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), are attributed to strong consumer confidence.
IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh said, “July was another positive month. In fact, passenger demand hit an all-time high for the industry and in all regions except Africa, despite significant disruption caused by the CrowdStrike IT outage.”
Riyadh Air celebrates first cabin crew graduation
Riyadh Air has graduated its first batch of 32 cabin crew members from 14 nationalities at a stunning ceremony at the Riyadh Airport Marriott Hotel. The crew completed comprehensive training in areas including safety, security, and hospitality. Selected from more than 150,000 applicants, they will be the first of many to join the airline, which plans to recruit more crew members in the coming months to meet its 2025 operational launch. Riyadh Air aims to connect travelers to over 100 destinations by 2030.
Emirates’ new beverages, new livery, Joburg flypast, and partnerships
Emirates is elevating its in-flight beverage experience with the introduction of 10 new premium spirits and beers. First Class passengers can now indulge in Stoli Elit 18 Vodka, The Botanist Gin, Eminente Reserva 7 Year Old Rum, and Glenmorangie Signet Single Malt Scotch Whisky, while Business Class offers Grey Goose Vodka, Glenmorangie Original 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, and Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc Beer. Meanwhile, Premium Economy and Economy Class passengers can enjoy Smirnoff Vodka No. 21 Red, Bombay Sapphire Gin, and Baileys Original Irish Cream, which is also available across all travel classes.
The airline has also unveiled a new A380 livery to promote their humanitarian work. Features a playful theme inspired by children’s artwork with pastel stars and a bold message, ‘Help to support children in need’, the livery aims to raise awareness about the Foundation’s mission and inspire support for its cause.
Over the weekend, the carrier also performed a historic flypast over Johannesburg’s Emirates Airline Park before a rugby match between South Africa’s Springboks and New Zealand’s All Blacks. As the first-ever A380 flypast in Africa, the flight at 500 ft seen by over 62,000 spectators marked a celebration of rugby and aviation; as well as the return of Emirates’ A380 daily service to the city.
Finally, Emirates shared a doubling of its partnership connectivity over the past year, now allowing passengers to access nearly 1,700 cities worldwide through its various airline alliances. This dramatic expansion enhances the airline’s global reach and has provided more than 61,000 travellers per week with connectivity around the world. Included in network are 13 rail and helicopter services, 31 codeshares and 118 interline partners.
Turkish Airlines celelbrates 20 million loyalty member milestone and inks deal with Travelport
Turkish Airlines marks its 35th anniversary of its frequent flyer program Miles&Smiles by celebrating 20 million loyalty members. The announcement coincides with impressive passenger numbers at Turkish airports, where nearly 70 million travellers were recorded in the first seven months of 2024, highlighting Türkiye’s role as a critical global aviation hub.
Istanbul Airport alone handled more than 45 million passengers during this time period reflecting a 6% rise. More than 35 million of them were international travellers. Given these numbers its unsurprising that the loyalty program is so popular among travellers with more than 20 million award tickets being distributed during its lifetime.
Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines has secured a long-term agreement with Travelport to maintain its content with the GDS, just as Sabre removed the airline from its distribution on 1 September.
Wizz Air launches Abu Dhabi-Moldova and Romania route
Starting from 2 October 2024, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has announced new flights to Cluj-Napoca, Romania (Wednesdays and Saturdays) and Chisinau, Moldova (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays). The budget airline aims to attract gastronomy lovers and sustainable travellers to the green city of Chisinau with its 23 lakes, and vineyards and the historic Cluj-Napoca in the heart of Transylvania. This new route, catering to both business and leisure travellers is expected to enhance connectivity between the UAE and Eastern Europe, offering a low-cost option for travellers.
Oman Air partnership offers free stopovers
Partnering with Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, Oman Air is now offering free stopovers as part of a promotion to travellers transiting through Muscat. From now until 30 November, Premium Class passengers booking a stopover in Muscat can get a free one-night hotel stay.
Meanwhile Economy Class passengers can enjoy buy one night and get one free when they book. This strategy is part of Oman Air’s broader efforts to boost tourism and provide added value to its customers, leveraging the country’s rich cultural and natural attractions to attract more visitors and encourage travellers to explore the country during layovers.
Direct flights to Medan announced by Saudia
Saudia has inaugurated direct flights between Jeddah and Medan, Indonesia, as part of its efforts to support Saudi Vision 2030 and grow its existing routes to Jakarta. The new route, launched on 1 September, 2024, is expected to boost religious tourism by facilitating the journey to the Two Holy Mosques.
This expansion comes as Saudia continues to grow its international network, offering more destinations to its passengers. The new service also aims to cater to the significant number of Indonesian pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah, providing them with more convenient and direct travel options.
In a report by Gulf News, Director General of Saudia Group Ibrahim Al Omar said the plans are to expand Saudia’s fleet from its current 188 aircraft to about 300 by the end of 2032; double its number of destinations to more than 140 within the next five years; and rank among the top five airlines globally by the end of 2027.
Air Arabia flies to Warsaw
From 20 December 2024, Air Arabia will operate direct flights from Sharjah to Warsaw, Poland. Operating five times a week on Airbus A321 aircraft, Warsaw will be the second Polish city served by the airline, following Krakow. The new route highlights the airline’s commitment to expanding its European reach and providing more travel options for its passengers.
Virgin Atlantic to fly daily to Saudi
Virgin Atlantic has announced daily flights from London Heathrow to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia starting summer 2025, with tickets on sale from 12 September 2024. With the first flight departing Heathrow on 30 March 2025, flights will operate on the A330neo the airline’s newest aircraft. The airline shared that the service aims to “participate in the growth expected from Saudi Vision 2030” with growth forecasted at 24% between 2019-2035.
flyadeal has received its latest Airbus A320neo, named Al Qa’ad, increasing its fleet to 34. This is the second delivery from Airbus in two months and the airline’s second fully owned aircraft this year. The airline currently operates from three bases in Saudi Arabia connecting to almost 30 destinations. With plans to continue expanding its fleet, network of destinations, as well as flight frequency on popular routes, flyadeal placed its largest ever order in the summer for a further 51 Airbus A320 family aircraft comprising 12 A320neos and 39 larger A321neos.
Middle Eastern airlines best in-flight food
Middle Eastern airlines have ranked in the Top 20 in a survey of in-flight food by MoneySuperMarket, which analysed 27,000 customer reviews across more than 100 airlines. While Kuwait Airways, Oman Air and Middle East Airlines rank first to third accordingly, Turkish Airlines came eighth, while Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad in 14th, 15th and 28th.
