According to the latest research from ForwardKeyswhich analyses flight reservation data, a mini-revolution has taken place in the Gulf. For the first time, In the first half of 2021, Doha International Airport will become the most important hub in the region. It has thus caught up with and even overtaken its great rival, Dubai International Airport.
According to ForwardKeys analyses, between 1 January and 30 June, the number of tickets issued for travel via Doha was 18 % higher than those issued via Dubai. This difference looks set to continue over the coming months. Bookings for the second half of the year via Doha are 17% higher than those via Dubai..
At the beginning of the year, air traffic via Doha accounted for 77 % of Dubai's traffic. But it quickly reached 100 % for the first time during the week of January 27.
According to the consultancy firm, The main factor behind this result is the lifting, in January, of the blockade flights to and from Qatarwhich has been in place since June 2017. The blockade was put in place by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
It had negative consequences for Doha with the suspension of flights to all these destinations. Qatar Airways removed 18 destinations from its network. Half of these were in Saudi Arabia, its largest regional market. The Doha hub also suffered from longer flight times and, consequently, longer connecting times. Qatar Airways had to bypass the airspace of the countries imposing the blockade.
Benefits of lifting the blockade on Qatar
But the resilience of Qatar Airways paid. The airline then redeployed its fleet to other destinations. It opened 24 new routes around the world. The end of the blockade has meant the resumption of flights to Cairo, Dammam, Dubai, Jeddah and Riyadh, and a rapid upturn in passenger volumes.
These routes have contributed the most to the hub's growth. According to ForwardKeys, traffic from Dammam to Doha immediately reached 30 % in the pre-blockade period. On Dubai-Doha, the figure was 21 %. The Doha hub also benefited from the launch of new routes to Seattle, San Francisco and Abidjan.
The main routes with the strongest passenger growth compared with pre-pandemic levels were: Sao Paulo, up 137 %, Kiev, up 53 %, Dhaka, up 29 % and Stockholm, up 6.7 %. Seat capacity also recorded strong growth from Doha to Johannesburg (up 25 %), the Maldives (up 21 %) and Lahore in Pakistan (up 19 %).
ForwardKeys shows that Seat capacity in the third quarter will continue to grow. On restored lines with the Middle Eastthe number of seats on offer is expected to fall to just one. lower percentage of 5.6 % to pre-pandemic levels. If we analyse the market shares of the main hubs in the Gulf, in the first half of 2021, the Doha hub accounted for 33% of transfer traffic. Dubai stood at 30% and Abu Dhabi at 9%. In the first half of 2019, these market shares were respectively 21% for Doha, 44% for Dubai and 13% for Abu Dhabi.
