Dubai's Airport Beat Pre-Pandemic Passenger Numbers in H1 2023
25.08.2023 - 12:51
/ skift.com
/ Peden Doma Bhutia
/ Paul Griffiths
Dubai International Airport announced on Tuesday that it served 41.6 million passengers in the first half of this year, exceeding figures for the same period in 2019.
The announcement follows news of Dubai surpassing its pre-pandemic tourism numbers for the first half of 2023, earlier this month.
The airport handled a total of 201,800 flights in the first half, up 13% compared to the same period in 2019. The average number of guests per flight during the first half reached 214 while the load factor was 77%.
The airport has also readjusted its forecast for the year from 83.6 million guests to 85 million, just 1.6% shy of its annual traffic in 2019.
“We started the second half with strong demand in July, and with the ongoing seasonal peak coinciding with the reopening of schools in August, we’re preparing for an exceptionally busy rest of the year,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.
Visit Saudi has joined forces with Spanish football league Laliga with the shared objective of showcasing Saudi Arabia as a year-round destination.
Visit Saudi will be the official travel destination and a global sponsor of Laliga. The collaboration aims to bolster Visit Saudi’s efforts to spotlight Saudi Arabia as a fast-growing destination. The underlying aim is to stimulate football-oriented tourism.
A prominent launch event and subsequent engagements, including sponsorships, premium digital content, and immersive consumer events, all aimed at maximizing audience engagement.
Laliga games is followed by millions of football fans across the kingdom, Saudi football players have played in Spain as well as Spanish players in the Saudi league, and Saudi now has more than six official fan clubs for Laliga teams.
Last week, Skift had highlighted Saudi Arabia’s newly launched airline Riyadh Air signing a multi-year partnership with leading Spanish football club, Atlético de Madrid. The report had also mentioned Saudi Tourism Investment Company (ASFAR)’s sponsorship agreement with Al-Hilal Saudi Club, one of Saudi Arabia’s premier football clubs.
Emirates and Philippine Airlines have expanded their interline agreement
The partnership will provide seamless connectivity for passengers to access domestic points in Philippine Airlines’ network via Cebu and Clark, adding to the previously announced interline connections via Manila, using a single ticket and convenient baggage policy.
The expansion comes months after Emirates and Philippine Airlines first announced their interline agreement. Emirates has been flying to the Philippines since 1990 and currently operates 25 weekly flights to Manila, Cebu and Clark.
With 29 codeshare and 110 interline partners, Emirates’ global footprint encompasses destinations far beyond