Emirates sees winter demand climb on some routes

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Emirates sees winter demand climb on some routes after summer bounce

September 15, 2026

DUBAI,— Emirates said Monday that winter bookings are up year on year on some routes and that it is expanding to more destinations after a summer season it described as ahead of expectations, as airlines across the region recover from the impact of the Iran war.

Demand in markets including South Africa, Brazil, India and Egypt was currently tracking ahead of last year, Emirates said in a statement. Demand was ahead in Nepal through Emirates’ partnership with flydubai.

The airline said customers were increasingly making travel decisions closer to departure. The Iran war affected travel earlier this year, pushing fuel prices higher and disrupting flights in the Middle East and beyond.

Middle Eastern carriers, some of the world’s biggest, saw their networks disrupted by the conflict but have gradually resumed activity.

Emirates said it is operating at about 93% of its pre-disruption capacity and carried more than 8.6 million passengers between July and August.

Services to and from West Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa recorded seat load factors above 75% during the summer, Emirates said.

Performance was particularly strong in markets including Indonesia and across the UK.

Dubai continued to attract strong inbound traffic, including in late August, the airline said.

Travelers included residents returning to the Gulf’s business and tourism hub ahead of the new academic year.

Dubai Airports, which recorded a more than 30% drop in traffic in the first half, said last week that it expects annual passenger traffic to reach around 70 million by the end of the year.

Emirates said Monday it would begin flying to Helsinki from October and add capacity on routes including Accra and Hanoi.

Separately, Etihad Airways Chief Executive said Monday that the airline’s passenger-carrying capacity is higher than a year ago as Gulf carriers recover from disruption to airlines at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which affected this year’s revenue.

At Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, available seat kilometres, the industry’s standard measure of passenger-carrying capacity, are 15% to 17% higher than a year ago.

(With files from Reuters)