Gulf Air ranked ninth regionally, with around 550,000 scheduled seats, recording a 4pc year-on-year increase in capacity, according to September 2026 data from OAG, a specialist in global airline schedules and aviation data.
Emirates Airlines topped Middle Eastern airlines in terms of scheduled seats, with around 2.93 million seats, and was followed by Saudi Airlines with 2.80m seats and Qatar Airways with 2.59m.
International Air Transport Association (IATA) data showed that global demand for air travel grew by 0.2 per cent in July 2026 compared with the same month last year.
According to IATA’s monthly report, reviewed by our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej, global airlines’ capacity increased by 0.3pc year on year, while the passenger load factor reached 85.2pc, down slightly by 0.1 percentage point.
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