The Doha to London Heathrow route has emerged as one of the top 10 busiest international routes in April 2022 by region (Middle East), according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), a global travel data provider.
According to OAG, the world’s busiest air routes have the largest volume of scheduled airline seats in the current calendar month.
In April’s Global Top 10 Busiest International Airline Routes Cairo to Jeddah took top position.
The released data disclosed that the route which sees flights from the Hamad International Airport to the London Heathrow Airport recorded 138,796 seats occupied in April to make the top 10 cut.
In the same category, Cairo to Jeddah saw the largest capacity with 334,157 seats, followed by Dubai-Jeddah, Dubai-London Heathrow, Dubai-Mumbai, Dubai-Riyadh, Delhi-Dubai, Istanbul- Tehran Imran Khomeini, Bahrain-Dubai, and Cairo-Riyadh.
Meanwhile, Cairo to Doha route was placed ninth in the African category, with 58,071 seats in April. The busiest was the Cairo to Jeddah route which stood at 334,157. OAG added that the Middle East region dominated the Top 10 International Busiest Airline Routes for April.
On the other hand, Hamad International Airport (HIA) hit a high mark of 41.37 percent increase in passenger footfall as 17.7 million passengers were served in 2021 compared to 2020 despite the pandemic. In a press statement in January, HIA Chief Operation Officer, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al Meer said the airport maintained stringent safety procedures to ensure a worry-free passenger experience, formed new partnerships to further HIA’s vision for sustainability and technological innovations, and expanded its lifestyle offerings for its passengers.
The Airports Council International (ACI) 2021 report also ranked Doha sixth in the top ten airports with the highest international patronage (17,701,978), only behind Dubai, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Paris airports. The ACI also ranked Doha in the top ten in terms of air cargo, with 2.6 million tonnes handled in 2021.