Middle East passenger numbers to reach 530 million by 2043 : IATA

At the opening session of the special media briefing Kamil Alawadhi – Regional VP – Africa and Middle East shared that the Middle East passenger numbers will double reaching 530 million in 2043 and the traffic will grow at an average annual rate of 3.9% over the 2023 – 2043 period. He reiterated that the Middle East annual growth of 0/1% higher than global growth (3.8%). In his presentation he went on to also explain about blocked funds, harmonized regulations and safety and flight operations. In terms of the blocked funds – $1.8billion in blocked finds globally down from $2.3 billion in April 2023. $1.1 billion in AME down from $1.9 billion in April 2023.