Flight Friday: Strong Recovery For Middle East Narrowbody Utilization

Following the gathering of aviation aftermarket companies at MRO Middle East in Dubai, Flight Friday explores the Middle East region’s flight cycles in 2025, and how they compare to equivalent months in 2019 and 2024.

Total annual flights completed by Middle Eastern operators surpassed 2019 levels back in 2023; this analysis looks at whether the narrowbody or the widebody market is making the biggest strides.

Narrowbody utilization has exploded since 2019. Monthly equivalent flights are around 30% greater in 2025 than in 2019. This huge increase in the number of flights is due to the large growth in the in-service fleet (ISF). 

The narrowbody fleet has grown by more than a third when compared to 2019. There are almost 100 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the region, added to the almost 200 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, with only a slight reduction in 737NG and A320 classic fleet in the same timeframe, which has helped add to the fleet.

This growth is not only exclusive when compared to 2019, but the growth from 2024 is also very positive, with around a 5% year-over-year increase in most months, helped again with a slightly enlarged fleet.

The widebody market was hard hit by COVID, and Middle Eastern operators, as a percentage of their ISF, rely heavily on their widebodies.

When compared to 2019, the widebodies are still off a fraction, but versus 2024 the widebodies have an almost 5% increase, helped by a slightly higher ISF. With Middle East operators having an outstanding orderbook of over 1,600 aircraft, of which almost 1,000 are widebody, this total utilization figure shall continue to grow, even with ongoing fleet replenishment.

This data was put together using Aviation Week’s Tracked Aircraft Utilization database.