Trending in October

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Doha becomes Middle East’s busiest

In the battle to be the pre-eminent travel hub in the Middle East, the latest research from ForwardKeys has revealed that Doha seized and consolidated a lead over Dubai in the first half of 2021. In the period January 1 -June 30, the volume of air tickets issued for travel via Doha was 18% higher than it was through Dubai; and that relationship looks set to continue. Current bookings for the second half of the year through Doha are 17% higher than through Dubai. At the start of the year, air traffic through Doha was at 77% of Dubai; but it quickly reached 100% for the first time during the week commencing January 27. The major factor driving the trend was the lifting, of the blockade of flights to and from Qatar this January, which was imposed in June 2017 by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism - an accusation it strongly denies. Since January, five routes were restored by Qatar Airways in the region and new routes launched further afield. Olivier Ponti, Vice President of insights at ForwardKeys, said, “Without the blockade, which encouraged the establishment of new routes as a strategy to replace lost traffic, perhaps we would not have seen Doha charging past Dubai. So, it seems that the seeds of Doha’s relative success were, ironically, sown by the adverse actions of its neighbours. However, one needs to bear in mind that flights through the Middle East during first half of 2021 were still 81 per cent below pre-pandemic levels. So, as the recovery gathers pace, the picture could change significantly”. The last major factor, which has given Qatar an edge over Dubai, has been its reaction to the pandemic. During the height of the Covid-19 crisis, many routes in and out of Doha remained operational, with the result that Doha became a major hub for repatriation flights - most notably to Johannesburg and Montreal.
Source: Breaking Travel News

Trending in October

The ten most read articles on EX-YU Aviation News throughout October according to accumulated statistics:

1. Lufthansa turns down Slovenian flag carrier proposal

2. Jet2 to enter Montenegrin market
3. Serbian regulator blocks Ryanair’s new Niš service

4. Ryanair set for new EX-YU expansion

5. Foreign carrier eyes new Slovenian airline

6. LOT to launch new EX-YU routes in 2020
7. Slovenia holds talks with Lufthansa over new carrier
8. Lufthansa and Swiss launching Ljubljana service

9. Air Serbia considering Superjet, Irkut aircraft order

10. Air Transat seeks new opportunities in Croatia

The three most read trip reports in October:

1. Air Serbia's “ghost flight” from London *
2. Swiss inaugural to Ljubljana
3. Qatar Airways: Belgrade - Jakarta via Doha

* Most read trip report of all time, most read item in October

The most popular vintage photo published in October:

JAT DC-10 on departure, 1980s

The most visitors by country:

1. Serbia
2. Slovenia

3. United States

4. Croatia
5. United Kingdom

6. Germany
7. Canada

8. Bosnia and Herzegovina
9. Macedonia

10. Australia

Comments

Anonymous16:37
Curious fact is no Montenegro visits and Bulgaria no longer in list.
US, Canada is probably because of the diaspora.
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