Saudi’s aviation sector saw a 26% y-o-y jump in passenger numbers to a record 112 mn in 2023, according to the General Authority of Civil Aviation’s (GACA) annual report (pdf). The total number of flights grew 16% y-o-y to 815k, the report showed.

On the human side: Some 421k domestic flights — both scheduled and non-scheduled — transported 51mn travelers domestically, while international flights hit 394k with 61 mn passengers, according to the report.

On the cargo side: Saudi’s airports handled 10k air cargo flights carrying 918k tons of cargo load. KSA’s three largest airports handled 910k of the total load with King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) handling 444k, King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) handling 360k, and King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) handling 106k.

That beats pre-pandemic levels: GACA said Saudi’s airports operated 9% more flights last year than they did in 2019, when covid-19 set in.

Jeddah leads the pack: Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport topped Saudi airports in the number of flights and passengers volumes in 2023, beating Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport’s lead in 2022. Jeddah saw 262 flights carrying 43 mn passengers last year, while Riyadh served 239k flights with 31.9 mn passengers on board.

ICYMI- Jeddah’s airport outperformed peers among all airports serving 15 mn or more passengers per year, data by GACA in January showed.

Three busiest months: GACA said that March, July and December were the busiest at airports last year. Peaks in the summer were driven by tourists and pilgrims for Hajj, accounting for 53% of total international arrivals.

Tags: