Saudi Gazette Report

RIYADH — The air traffic in Saudi Arabia recorded a surge of 26%, with the number of passengers traveled through various airports in the Kingdom reached about 112 million during the year 2023 compared to the previous year. These figures were revealed in the Air Transport Statistics Bulletin for the year 2023 published on Wednesday by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

The number of passengers traveled on board international flights at the Kingdom’s airports reached 61 million, and this shows record increase of 46 percent compared to the year 2022, while the number of passengers traveled on board domestic flights at the Kingdom’s airports rose 9 percent to 51 million.

The bulletin figures showed that the number of domestic flights at the Kingdom’s airports reached 421000, with a rate of two percent increase over the year 2022, while the number of international flights reached approximately 394000, with a rate of increase of 36 percent over the year 2022. The quantities of cargo handled at the Saudi airports reached 918000 tons, an increase of seven percent over the year 2022. December was the highest month in 2023 in terms of the volume of shipping at a rate of 93000 tons.

The bulletin revealed that the Kingdom has achieved a great progress in the rate of international air connectivity during the year 2023 by advancing nine places, bringing it to 18th place compared to the year 2019. This progress was driven by an increase in the total number of countries arriving to the Saudi airports, reaching 86 countries and marking an increase of 12 percent over 2022 while the number of destinations rose to 148, an increase of 47 percent from 2022.

The total number of passengers traveled through all the Kingdom’s airports reached 116 million during the year 2023. King Abdulaziz International Airport Jeddah emerged topper with a rate of 45 million passengers, followed by King Khalid International Airport Riyadh with 37 million passengers, and King Fahd International Airport Dammam came third with 13 million passengers.

These impressive results confirmed that the air traffic sector in the Kingdom has recovered from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The 2023 progress reflects the success of the Kingdom’s efforts in the air connectivity programs and partnerships, aiming to achieve the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030.

It is noteworthy that the Air Transport Statistics Bulletin is an annual bulletin that provides statistics and indicators about the air transport system and the movement of passengers and freight through commercial and private planes.