MARKETS
Gulf and Middle East
Global transfer hubs, fast-growing new airlines and heavy investment in MRO, space and air taxis.
Countries
Served by Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways, with a new terminal under construction at Kuwait International Airport.
Built around Hamad International Airport and Qatar Airways, a global transfer hub with major cargo and engineering operations.
The Gulf's largest domestic market, with new airlines, airport expansion in Riyadh and Jeddah, and a national push to build local MRO and aerospace manufacturing.
Home to the long-haul hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, large airline engineering bases, a growing space sector and the region's first certified air-taxi vertiport.
Compare the region
| United Arab Emirates | Passengers: 91,062,293 (2023) | Air freight (m t-km): 13,566 (2023) | Departures: 435,257 (2023) | Directory companies: 69 |
| Saudi Arabia | Passengers: 47,979,994 (2023) | Air freight (m t-km): 1,037 (2023) | Departures: 302,451 (2023) | Directory companies: 25 |
| Qatar | Passengers: 37,714,348 (2023) | Air freight (m t-km): 13,927 (2023) | Departures: 207,020 (2023) | Directory companies: 13 |
| Kuwait | Passengers: 9,499,895 (2023) | Air freight (m t-km): 331 (2023) | Departures: 68,356 (2023) | Directory companies: 7 |
| Oman | Passengers: 8,697,025 (2023) | Air freight (m t-km): 542 (2023) | Departures: 63,371 (2023) | Directory companies: 10 |
| Bahrain | Passengers: 5,734,420 (2023) | Air freight (m t-km): 895 (2023) | Departures: 60,083 (2023) | Directory companies: 6 |
| Jordan | Passengers: 3,731,345 (2023) | Air freight (m t-km): 110 (2023) | Departures: 34,667 (2023) | Directory companies: 10 |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0).
In Market Pulse
Latest from the region
Working on a programme in Gulf and Middle East? Submit a bottleneck →
Consulting
Fleet, route or airport bottleneck?
Practitioners scope it in writing, with fixed fees per milestone paid on acceptance.
Submit a bottleneck →Free every Friday
Aerospace Garage Weekly
Market Pulse, the nine regions and a course of the week — one email, free every Friday.
Your email address is used only to send you the free weekly edition and is never sold or shared. You can unsubscribe from any edition.