Mubasher: More than 30 airlines will participate in CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa (MEIA) which will take place in Dubai on Tuesday 30 April and Wednesday 1 May, according to a press release on Monday.
Among those who registered for the inaugural of CONNECT MEIA, co-located with Arabian Travel Market 2019, are Emirates, Etihad, China Southern Airlines, Jordan Aviation, Air Asia, flydubai, Gulf Air, Oman Air, and Azerbaijan Airlines, as well as SpiceJet and Air India.
India is a leading market in global aviation industries, as over 678,000 flights departed from its top five airports over 2018. Airports in India have the capacity to receive 118.07 million passengers in 20108, an additional 12.32 million passengers when compared with figures from 2017, the press release added, according to data published in the latest ANKER report.
“Despite rising fuel costs and unstable Rupee exchange rates, which has led to the Rupee losing around 14% of its value against the US dollar over the last 12 months, 2018 has been an exciting year for India’s aviation market,” divisional director of Reed Travel Exhibitions Nick Pilbeam said.
He added, “The country has recorded the world’s fastest growing domestic aviation market for the past three years, according to IATA, with domestic air passenger traffic registering a healthy 18.6% growth in 2018 underscoring the country’s vast market potential.”
The UAE airports currently sees 1,065 weekly flights to India corresponding to 130,000 seats per week.
CEO of The Airport Agency Karin Butot said: “India’s aviation industry presents enormous potential on a global scale and CONNECT Middle East, India & Africa 2019 is the perfect forum to realise this potential. Bringing together high-level executives from the country’s aviation and tourism industry, the event will offer delegates unlimited opportunities for one-to-one pre-scheduled networking appointments.”
CONNECT MEIA will be part of the newly launched Arabian Travel Week which will kick off in Dubai on 27 April and last until 1 May 2019.
