GACA Reports Significant Growth in Air Travel in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) released air-traffic statistics showing significant growth in the number of passengers and flights in the Kingdom during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

According to the figures, there was a 17% increase in the number of passengers over the past six months, reaching around 62 million, compared to 53 million during the same period last year.

The number of flights also reached approximately 446,000, marking a 12% increase compared to 399,000 flights during the same period last year.

The airfreight volume in the first six months of 2024 witnessed a 41% increase, reaching 606,000 tons compared to 430,000 in the same period of 2023.

During the first half of this year, GACA launched several development projects, including the development and expansion of Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport, the inauguration of the development and expansion of Al-Ahsa International Airport, the launch of the new additional international departure terminal at Taif International Airport, and the introduction of the self-driving air taxi experience for the first time during the Hajj season.

Furthermore, the authority granted the first operating permit for building cleaning using drones, which illustrates its commitment to enabling safe and innovative advanced air mobility solutions. It also launched a knowledge-testing center for aviation personnel and the first phase of electronic gates at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

GACA won two gold awards for Best Customer Service and Best Public Service Center in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, the Consumer Protection Association award for excellence in protecting passengers' rights, and the certificate in the quality management system for monitoring flight safety and environmental sustainability.

The aviation sector saw several achievements in the past six months, including 16 Saudi airports obtaining the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality (ASQ) accreditation for 2024.

Saudi airports continued their progress in ranking among the top 50 airports worldwide, as announced in the evaluation results of the international air transport rating organization Skytrax. Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah won the first-place award as the best regional airport in the Middle East during the Skytrax World Airport Awards ceremony held in Frankfurt, Germany.

The King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah achieved the highest ratings on the Airports Council International list for 2023. The King Fahd International Airport in Dammam won three of the Saudi Airports Awards for 2023, including the award for the best airport in the category 5-15 million passengers, the award for the best customs inspection area, and the award for the best services for people with disabilities.

SAUDIA also received recognition, winning awards for being the most advanced airline in the world and having the best economy-class catering for 2024 in the Skytrax global ranking.

According to Skytrax, Flynas was crowned the fourth-best low-cost airline in the world for the second consecutive year and the first in the Middle East for the seventh consecutive year, the most important global benchmark for measuring airline performance.

All these achievements are part of the initiatives and programs launched by GACA, aiming to contribute to the development of the air transport industry locally, regionally, and internationally, in line with the National Strategy for the Civil Aviation Sector.

The strategy aims to make the aviation sector in the Kingdom the first in the Middle East by reaching 330 million passengers, increasing air freight capacity to 4.5 million tons, and raising air connectivity to reach 250 destinations to and from Saudi airports by 2030.

A mini OPEC+ ministerial meeting next month is unlikely to recommend changing the group's output policy, including a plan to start unwinding one layer of oil output cuts from October, three sources told Reuters.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, or OPEC+ as the group is known, will hold an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting (JMMC) on Aug. 1 to review the market.

One of the three OPEC+ sources, all of whom declined to be identified by name, said the meeting would serve as a “pulse check” for the health of the market.

Oil was trading around $85 a barrel on Thursday, finding support from Middle East conflict and falling inventories. Concern about higher for longer interest rates and demand has limited gains this year.

OPEC+ is currently cutting output by a total of 5.86 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 5.7% of global demand, in a series of steps agreed since late 2022.

At its last meeting in June, OPEC+ agreed to extend cuts of 3.66 million bpd by a year until the end of 2025 and to prolong the most recent layer of cuts - a 2.2 million bpd cut by eight members - by three months until the end of September 2024.

OPEC+ will gradually phase out the cuts of 2.2 million bpd over the course of a year from October 2024 to September 2025.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, asked this week if the market was strong enough to take the extra volume from October, did not rule out tweaks to the agreement if needed.

“Now we have such an option (of output increase), as we said earlier, we will always evaluate the current situation,” Novak said.

In June, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman had said OPEC+ could pause or reverse the production hikes if it decided the market is not strong enough.

The JMMC usually meets every two months and can make recommendations to change policy which could then be discussed and ratified in a full OPEC+ ministerial meeting of all members.

Meanwhile, oil prices extended gains on Thursday, buoyed by a bigger than expected decline in crude stocks in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer.

Brent futures rose 41 cents, or 0.5%, to $85.49 a barrel by 0819 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 69 cents, or 0.8%, at $83.54, with both having registered gains in the previous session.

US crude inventories fell by 4.9 million barrels last week, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.

GACA Reports Significant Growth in Air Travel in Saudi Arabia