New Gulf Link for Scotland ?

Posted 09/01/2012

A leading UK newspaper reported this past weekend that a new air service between Scotland and the Middle East could be announced this week.  The Scotsman claimed that while Scotland’s First Minister is in Abu Dhabi to sign a major energy deal with renewable giant Masdar, he will announce the launch of a new non-stop flight into the region, opening up further connection opportunities across Africa, Asia and Australasia.

At the current time Emirates Airline offers the only direct flight from Scotland to the Middle East, a daily Boeing 777-300ER link between Glasgow and Dubai, although rivals Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have both been mooted as possible new arrivals in Scotland with potential links to Edinburgh. 

According to official UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data, 268,541 passengers travelled between Glasgow and Dubai in 2010, up 9.8 per cent from the 244,486 passengers that flew on the route the previous year and figures have grown still further during the first ten months of 2011 suggesting that a second daily flight could also be on the cards.

The route has opened up fast and popular connections for passengers to other destinations alongside the business and leisure O&D demand.  Around a quarter of passengers flying this route in 2010 started or ended their journeys at Dubai International Airport meaning that an estimated 200,000 used the hub to connect on to other markets either when travelling to or from Glasgow.  Data shows that the most popular destinations comprise Bangkok, Thailand; Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; New Delhi, India and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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PLEASE NOTE: From March 7, 2012 schedule data for all news stories has been extracted from OAG Schedules iNET; All GDS data is based on a live GDS update on the day of publication; Traffic data extracted from IATA BSP system for the year ending December 2011.  All information is subject to change.