The world’s biggest football tournament kicks off this week in Qatar, giving airline operators flying to the Middle East region a much-needed boost, according to travel intelligence provider Mabrian Technologies, which conducted a study about the impact of the FIFA World Cup on the air connectivity in Qatar.
Increased demand for inbound flights for Qatar’s airports is expected to soar over the course of the month-long tournament as football fans attend the event, but the study reveals that Qatar’s surrounding countries are seeing an even bigger demand for flights.
According to the inbound flight schedules as of 8 November, the number of inbound flight seats for Qatar will increase by 25% during the World Cup celebration. This means 400,000 extra inbound seats during this period, compared to last year.
However, the impact on air connectivity will be proportionally much bigger for other countries in the Middle East. Kuwait will see its flight capacity increased by 53%, whereas the UAE and Saudi Arabia will see an increase of 46% and 43% respectively during this period.
As a result of this, Mabrian said that 14.6 million inbound air seats are scheduled to this region during the event time.