COMCEC Transport and Communications
Outlook 2018
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3.4. AIR TRANSPORT
There is a large variation in the air traffic figures between the OIC Member States. On the one
hand, several OIC countries achieve highest air traffic globally. As can be seen in Table 12, there
are three airports from the OIC region that are ranked in the top 30 busiest airports in terms of
passenger traffic and two airports in the top 20 busiest airports in terms of air cargo traffic as of
2016.
Table 12: OIC airports ranked in the top 30 for passenger traffic and in the top 20 for air cargo
traffic (2016)
PASSENGER CARGO
City (Airport) Passengers City (Airport) Metric Tonnes
Dubai, UAE 83,654,250 Dubai, UAE
2,592,454
Istanbul, Turkey 60,422,847 Doha, Qatar
1,758,074
Jakarta, Indonesia 58,195,484
Source: Author from Airports Council International
On the other hand, several OIC member countries lack an operating airport and accordingly fail
to experience any air traffic movement. As can be seen in Table 13, among all OIC countries,
Turkey, Indonesia, and UAE had the highest air passenger traffic in 2017. In terms of
geographical classification, Turkey, UAE, and Saudi Arabia in the MENA; Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire,
and Mozambique in the Sub-Saharan Africa; and Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan in the Asia
were the top three OIC member countries with highest air passenger movement. Nevertheless,
almost two thirds of the air passengers is carried at MENA region while one third is carried at
Asia.