Arabian
Travel Market provides marketing platform for new carriers and new routes –
aviation sector grows by a third as IATA’s annual Gulf passenger numbers jump
11.7%
Development in the region’s dynamic aviation sector will once
again be a major talking point at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2016, as Gulf
airlines look to capitalize on their strategic location, connecting East and
West.
It has been an extremely strong performance over the last 18 months
for the region’s aviation sector with Gulf airlines in particular showing the
strongest passenger growth in the world according to International Air
Transport Association (IATA) statistics, following an 11.7% year-on-year rise
in traffic to August 2015, which is now beginning to manifest itself at ATM.
Earlier this year Arabian Travel Market 2015 witnessed robust airline
activity, with 27 carriers represented, including regional heavyweights
Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, as well as Lufthansa, British
Airways and Turkish Airlines. There was also a strong showing from the low cost
carriers including flydubai, Air Arabia and Nasair.
“The amount of space that we dedicate to aviation has been
steadily rising since 2012, which has grown almost 32% over the past four years
to reach well in excess of 2,000 square metres. This figure doesn’t even
include what we call ‘stand sharing companies’, where companies choose to
participate by sharing stand space, for example, Air Arabia decided to
participate at ATM 2015 with the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development
Authority,” said Nadege Noblet-Segers,
Exhibition Manager of Arabian Travel Market, which takes place at the Dubai
International Convention & Exhibition Centre, on 25 – 28 April 2016.
Since June 2015 Emirates has announced improved frequencies and
also new routes to Boston, Orlando, Chicago, Bali, Mashad (Iran), Bamako
(Mali), as well as Panama City, the longest non-stop flight in the world in a
westerly direction. Etihad Airways has opened up new routes to Edinburgh and
Madrid and next year Qatar Airways will fly to Sydney, Los Angeles, Atlanta,
and Boston.
“The low cost airlines are not being left behind either, flydubai
now operates 110 routes and will carry 8.9 million passengers this year. Air
Arabia now connects Casablanca with Montpellier (France) and Naples (Italy) and
Marrakesh with Frankfurt. In addition the Sharjah-based carrier is now extending
its reach to Urumqi in China,” added Noblet-Segers.
Other regional statistics support the bullish sentiment toward
aviation growth forecasts, when demand and wealth dynamics are considered.
According to the World Bank, the MENA region population is more than 331
million with an annual growth rate of 1.73% in 2013.
“That’s 5.7 million people per annum, or to put it another way,
the equivalent of the population of Riyadh. And with 31% of the MENA population
still under 15 years, it will continue to grow and it will continue to travel,”
added Noblet-Segers.
In terms of wealth, the per capita income for the UAE according to
the World Bank in 2014 was still more than US$44,000, comfortably within the
top 10% of richest nations, behind Qatar ($97K) and Kuwait ($49K), but ahead of
Bahrain ($25K), Saudi Arabia ($24K) and Oman ($19K).
Recent YouGov data would also support those figures, which revealed
that more than one-third of MENA residents (36%) are planning to increase their
leisure travel over the next year, with 15% anticipating a big increase in
outbound travel.
The same research also showed a similar trend for business travel with
33% of MENA-based passengers reportedly taking one or more short-haul leisure
trips over the previous 12 months, out of which 10% made three or further trips
by air.
The ATM 2015 seminars also attracted some of the world’s leading aviation
experts and industry leaders, such as John Strickland, Director, JLS
Consulting, who was in conversation with Martin Bentrott, Vice President Sales,
The Middle East, Russia & Central Asia for Boeing, as well as one-on-one
sessions with Tim Clark, President, Emirates and Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief
Executive, Qatar Airways.
“More could be done to
generate additional air passengers, the open skies issue and GCC-wide visas for
example are sure to be hot topics for discussion once again during the ATM 2016
aviation seminars,” added Noblet-Segers.
In terms of
infrastructure, the region is building one of the most comprehensive transport
infrastructures on earth. Dubai World Central will receive US$ 32 billion in
investment and will accommodate 220 million passengers. The new Doha Hamad
International Airport in Qatar, can now handle 30 million passengers and Abu
Dhabi is anticipating more than 20 million passengers within the next few
years.
ATM 2016 will build on the success of this year’s
edition with the announcement of an additional hall as Reed Travel Exhibitions looks to add to
its record-breaking achievements earlier this year. ATM 2015 witnessed a
year-on-year visitor attendance increase of 12% to over 26,000, with exhibiting
companies increasing by 5% to 2,873. Business
deals worth more than US$2.5 billion
were signed over the four days.
For more information on Arabian Travel Market 2016, please log on
to: www.arabiantravelmarket.com
About Arabian Travel
Market
In its 22nd edition, Arabian Travel Market 2015, boasted more than 2,800 exhibitors and stand-sharers from 86 countries and attracted over 26,000 visitors from around the world.
In its 22nd edition, Arabian Travel Market 2015, boasted more than 2,800 exhibitors and stand-sharers from 86 countries and attracted over 26,000 visitors from around the world.
