The Middle East, and Dubai in particular, is forecast to drive growth in global aviation demand in August, new data from flight schedule data market leader OAG showed.
Dubai, with its 12 percent increase in flight operations and 14 percent increase in seat capacity, is also showing the fastest growth among the major global air hubs, the report said.
Traffic within the Middle East region is also expected to grow by 4 percent in terms of flights and 3 percent in terms of seats, the OAG data showed.
"Strategically, the Middle East is growing in importance all the time, particularly in terms of its links with Western Europe," Rob Shaw, director Analytics at OAG said.
"While capacity reductions are continuing on several key routes between Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, more than 4,00,000 extra seats are now offered between Western Europe and the Middle East", he said.
Of these, more than 70 percent are on services between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, largely reflecting the continued expansion plans of the premier Gulf-based airlines, Shaw added.