Dubai well-positioned to benefit from global aviation growth

Dubai is well-positioned to take advantage of the solid growth in global air travel and the emirate's aviation sector is expected to continue to fuel its economic expansion over the coming years, a report said. Dubai's aviation growth is not only through its geographical location at the meeting point of three continents, but also the government’s determination to invest in the sector, highlights the Emirates NBD Research report written by Daniel Richards, Senior Economist. The aviation sector has become an increasingly important component of Dubai’s economy over recent decades, bolstered by the development of the emirate’s airports, and by the rapid growth of the national carriers, the report says. Indeed, in recent quarters aviation has been the key driver of GDP growth in Dubai. With global air travel set to maintain a solid pace of growth over the decades to come. "With the expected ongoing growth in global air travel, and heavy investment planned into Dubai’s airlines and airports, we anticipate that the sector will continue to be a major contributor to the emirate’s economic growth over the coming years. This will be supported by growth in the domestic population: there are plans to grow the population of Dubai to 5.8m by 2040, from around 3.6m presently. Given that this will largely entail people moving here from abroad, this will in and of itself generate growth in aviation numbers as the new inhabitants travel home or on holidays. "The ongoing growth in Dubai’s tourism sector will also underpin aviation: there were 13.9m overnight visitors to Dubai over January to October 2023, exceeding the pre-pandemic record of 13.5m set in 2019. The aim is to hit 40m visitors by 2040, with the vast majority of these visitors set to come by air," says the report.<br/>