BUSINESS

Arrival flights around Makkah jump 20% ahead of Haj 2018

August 15, 2018

JEDDAH — As of July 31, 2018, arrival flights around the holy city of Makkah ahead of this year’s Hajj were up 20% when compared to the last year’s pilgrimage, according to analysis conducted by Travelport, the leading travel commerce platform.

Every year, in excess of one million people from all over the world fly into western Saudi Arabia to perform Haj, making it one of the largest annual spikes in global air traffic.

This year, the pilgrimage begins this weekend and concludes on the first day of Eid Al Adha. During this period, in total, as many as three million pilgrims are expected to participate.

According to Travelport’s analysis, as of 31 July, flights from Pakistan had seen the greatest growth in bookings through GDS around Makkah when compared to last year’s Hajj, with volume up 13,788 (+61%). Bookings from the United Kingdom saw the second highest rise, with volume up 4,324 (+47%). Bahrain came third having registered 4,306 more bookings (+173%) vs 2017. India and the United Arab Emirates completed the top five positions in the table. India saw an increase in bookings of 3,791 (+19%), while the United Arab Emirates recorded a rise of 2,887 (+24%). Overall, flight bookings around Makkah through GDS had been made from 148 countries around the world.

Matthew Powell, Travelport’s Managing Director for the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, said: “Every year, Hajj sees one of the greatest migrations of people on the planet. It is likely many of the rises in flight bookings we’ve seen through our analysis can, at least in part, be attributed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s government increasing the Hajj quotas for the countries in question. For example, in recent months, increases have been reported for countries including Pakistan, Bahrain and India.”

Due to their proximity to relevant locations, the three airports pilgrims tend to fly into are: King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah; Taif Regional Airport, Taif; and Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport, Madinah.

As part of its study, Travelport analyzed bookings made to these airports through all global distribution systems (GDS) as of 31 July, arriving from 19 July (one month before Haj) to 18 August.

GDS are vast hi-tech reservation networks that allow travel agents and travel management companies, among others, to search and book airline seats, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel related items. Globally in 2017, Travelport alone processed 1 trillion transactions through its GDS. During Hajj, it should be noted that a large number of charter flights are added to manage dramatic increases in demand for trips to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and these are not recorded through GDS as bookings are made directly with associated airlines. — SG


August 15, 2018
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