Low-cost carriers’ (LCC) share of the region’s aviation market has doubled over the past decade, increasing at an average annual rate of 11.5%, according to an OAG report (pdf). To fully understand the underlying drivers and implications of this trend, we take a deep dive into three growing low-cost carriers in the region: Egypt’s Air Cairo, Saudi Arabia’s flynas, and the UAE’s flydubai.

The LCC boom has helped make the Middle East aviation sector the second-fastest growing globally — hiking up 9% in the post-pandemic period since 2019, the report finds. South Asia comes first at an 11% growth rate.

More room for growth: The low-cost carrier market will always be growing, with rising demand for budget flights remaining a key driver for this continued growth, Air Cairo logistics specialist Khaled Nour El Din told EnterpriseAM. In 2024, LCC capacity stood at 29% of the region’s total market share — still below the global average of 34%, suggesting more prospects for growth in the region.

THE REGIONAL CONTENDERS

Flynas and flydubai are leading the region, each boasting the same capacity of about 14.4 mn one-way seats. This comes on the back of ever-expanding fleets, facilitating each of the carriers’ impressive networks of destinations. Flynas owns 64 aircraft — mostly Airbus A320neos — that service some 1.5k flights to over 130 domestic and international destinations every week, whereas Flydubai boasts 88 Boeing 737 jets flying to 135 domestic and international locations across 58 countries.

Flynas is markedly the fastest-growing airline in the region, boasting a whopping 63% capacity increase in 2019-2024. Flydubai comes in as a close second, with a 56% growth in capacity during the same period.

This is only going up: The two regional contenders are also lining up major capacity expansions as competition for bigger market share heats up. For example, Flynas is set to boost its fleet by at least 280 jets by 2034, after it placed a USD 30 bn order with Airbus last July. Meanwhile, flydubai is also mulling a widebody jet order from Boeing numbering in the hundreds, according to unconfirmed reports in May.

OVER IN EGYPT

Egypt is emerging as a regional gateway across the board. Its airports function as a key link to the African market for regional budget carriers, with 96% of the Saudi state-owned airline flyadeal’s capacity and 81% of flynas’ stopping in Egypt. It’s a similar story for the UAE’s Air Arabia with 73% of Africa traffic heading into Egypt.

The country also has its own up-and-coming players, like Air Cairo, which now counts 37 airplanes among its fleet. Its fleet by number of airplanes is now more than half of that currently run by EgyptAir, however, most of Air Cairo’s fleet is of much smaller models than the larger airplanes run by the national flag carrier. At present, Air Cairo operates nearly 200 weekly flights across 50 international and domestic locations, according to its website.

Success for Egyptian players won’t only be found in offering a cheaper service, but filling gaps in the aviation market. While EgyptAir focuses primarily on connecting Cairo with other capital cities, Air Cairo is looking to connect other international destinations with Egyptian destinations outside of the capital, Nour El Din told us.

To make this work, Air Cairo is going to need a bigger fleet. The budget carrier is planning to more than double its fleet to 70+ planes, Nour El Din told us. To put this in perspective, Air Cairo’s fleet only stood at just four planes five years ago.

Air Cairo is also lining up a launch for freight operations, Nour El Din told us. While the airline focuses on passenger operations at present, the airline has retained a license to expand into cargo operations. It also has a dedicated cargo team, which is working on securing the company’s first cargo aircraft, he added

IN-HOUSE MROs ON THE RISE

LLC players’ exponential growth is also hiking demand on the already very busy MRO facilities, prompting the new players to explore their own. Budget carrier flydubai broke ground on its USD 190 mn aircraft MRO facility in Dubai South in July, which is scheduled for operations by 4Q 2026.

Other players are catching up: Flynas is yet to have its wholly-owned MRO facility, but unconfirmed reports have said the company is exploring an in-house facility. This comes as Saudi Arabia ramps up MRO capacity, granting the first industrial MRO licenses to Middle East Aircraft Engines Company and Saudia Technic — a Saudia Group subsidiary — in February. Air Cairo is also eyeing its own aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities, which have until now been done by EgyptAir’s facilities. Air Cairo is mulling “opening its own MRO facilities in Hurghada,” Nour El Din said without disclosing further details.

REMEMBER- The MRO market is heating up: Global MRO market size reached USD 114bn in 2024, growing by 7.2% during the post-pandemic period, according to data from consulting outfit Oliver Wyman. Aging fleets, aircraft malfunctions, and jet delivery delays were among the top growth drivers in the MRO market, while materials shortages were the primary disruptor for the aviation industry, according to a survey by the firm. The MRO market is expected to grow annually by a steady average of 2.7% to reach USD 156 bn in 2035.

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