RIYADH: Air transport from the UAE to Saudi Arabia surged 13 p.c in March in comparison with the earlier month, pushed by rising demand on account of Ramadan.
In response to the UAE’s Normal Civil Aviation Authority, weekly flights from the UAE to the Kingdom reached 383 in March, from round 338 the earlier month.
The Hajj season is all the time a key time for Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector, and in 2023 regional airports transported 1.5 million non secular guests and three.2 million passengers via 102 airways throughout the pilgrimage interval.
GCCA revealed that this 12 months flydubai elevated its service to the Kingdom to assist the Hajj season by 40 p.c, from 93 weekly journeys in February to 130 in March, state information company WAM reported.
These flydubai flights to Saudi Arabia coated locations together with Abha, Jazan, Neom, in addition to AlUla, and Qaisumah.
Extra locations coated by flydubai in March included Riyadh, Dammam and Qassim, in addition to Jeddah, Taif and Tabuk.
The assertion indicated that Etihad Airways additionally elevated its weekly providers by greater than 22.2 p.c to 77 in March in comparison with February, overlaying locations equivalent to Dammam, Jeddah, and Riyadh.
Etihad Airways additionally disclosed that it transported round 45,000 passengers to Saudi Arabia throughout Ramadan and the Umrah season, from March 11 to April 7.
The airline acknowledged that Jeddah was the best choice for vacationers throughout the holy month, with flights to the town attaining a passenger occupancy price exceeding 95 p.c.
As of March 15, Etihad has completely elevated its providers to Saudi Arabia. The airline now operates a complete of 77 weekly flights, with 28 journeys every to Jeddah and Riyadh, and 21 to Dammam.
In the meantime, the variety of weekly journeys by the UAE’s greatest service, Emirates, reached 67 in March, overlaying Dammam, Jeddah and Madinah, in addition to Riyadh.
Low-cost airline Wizz Air Abu Dhabi operated about 21 weekly flights to Dammam and Madinah in March.
Equally, Air Arabia operated round 88 weekly providers to locations like Abha, Al-Jowf and Dammam in March.
Extra locations coated by Air Arabia in March had been Qassim, Hail, and Jeddah, together with Madinah, Riyadh, and Taif, in addition to Yanbu.
The report additional famous that almost all of passengers visiting Saudi Arabia throughout the holy month had been from the UAE, India, Pakistan, and Indonesia.
Growing the tourism sector and growing the variety of pilgrim vacationers is crucial for Saudi Arabia, because the Kingdom is steadily lowering its dependence on oil, aligning with the objectives outlined in Imaginative and prescient 2030.
The variety of travellers throughout the 2023 Hajj season elevated by over 86 p.c in contrast with 2022, an announcement from the Normal Authority of Civil Aviation mentioned final 12 months.
In March, Saudi Arabia’s Transport Minister Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser inspected Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz Worldwide Airport to make sure operations had been working easily for Ramadan.
From the start of the month of Sha’ban on Feb. 11 till Ramadan 10, which fell on March 20, KAIA recorded the arrival and departure of over 5.4 million passengers on 30,572 flights, the Saudi Press Company reported.
