Second highest passenger growth expected in Middle East during summer travel season: IATA

Second highest passenger growth is expected in the Middle East region during the summer travel holiday season, IATA’s forward bookings data indicate.
An IATA survey covering 4,700 travellers in some 11 countries shows that 79% said they were planning a trip in the June-August 2023 period.
While 85% said that peak travel season disruptions should not be a surprise, 80% said that they expected smooth travel with post pandemic issues having been resolved.
Forward bookings data indicates that greatest growth is expected in Asia Pacific region (134.7%) followed by Middle East (42.9%), Europe (39.9%), Africa (36.4%), Latin America (21.4%) and North America (14.1%).
IATA survey has seen “high levels of confidence” among travellers for the peak Northern summer travel holiday season. This corresponds with first quarter of 2023 forward bookings data for May – September, which is tracking at 35% above 2022 levels.
IATA’s senior vice-president (Operations, Safety and Security) Nick Careen said, “Expectations are high for this year’s peak Northern summer travel season. For many this will be their first post-pandemic travel experience. While some disruptions can be expected, there is a clear expectation that the ramping-up issues faced at some key hub airports in 2022 will have been resolved. “To meet strong demand, airlines are planning schedules based on the capacity that airports, border control, ground handlers, and air navigation service providers have declared. Over the next months, all industry players now need to deliver.”
Collaboration, sufficient staffing and accurate information sharing are all essential to minimise operational disruptions and their impact on passengers. The key is ensuring that the capacities which have been declared and scheduled are available.
“A lot of work has gone into preparing for the peak Northern summer travel season. Success rests on readiness across all players in the supply chain. If each player delivers on what has been declared, there should be no last minute requirements to reduce the scale of the schedules that travellers have booked on,” said Careen.
Labour unrest, particularly in France, is cause for concern. Eurocontrol data on the impact of French strikes earlier this year shows that cancellations can spike by over a third.
“We need to keep a very careful eye on Europe where strike actions have caused significant disruptions earlier this year. Governments should have effective contingency plans in place so that the actions of those providing essential services like air traffic control maintain minimum service levels and do not disrupt the hard-earned vacations of those travelling or put at risk the livelihoods of those in the travel and tourism sectors,” Careen added.