As air travel in Saudi Arabia continues to hotten up, which airport is busier? Riyadh or Jeddah?
Using data from RadarBox.com, we will establish which airport is the more dominating area in terms of seven-day rolling averages of movements.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Riyadh’s Movements…
For March 5-12, the main international airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia handled 632 movements based on the seven-day rolling averages provided by the flight tracking company.
This represents an increase of 7.48% compared to the same period last year.
Compared to pre-pandemic levels, this figure is actually an improvement of 124 movements, which shows strong growth within Riyadh.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data for the airport:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| February 5-12 | 506 movements | 536 movements | 626 movements | +16.79% |
| February 12-19 | 497 movements | 542 movements | 605 movements | +11.62% |
| February 19-26 | 496 movements | 559 movements | 615 movements | +10.02% |
| February 26-March 5 | 499 movements | 559 movements | 651 movements | +16.46% |
What we can see from the data is that Riyadh’s airport is growing at a strong and steady rate, with these numbers expected to change during the busy Summer 2023 season.
Jeddah’s Movements…
For March 5-12, Jeddah’s airport achieved 710 movements, which represents an increase of 51.71% compared to the same period last year.
Jeddah’s figures in 2019 (Pre-pandemic levels) were recorded at 540 movements, which means 2023’s numbers represent an increase of 170 movements, which is slightly stronger than Riyadh’s differences.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data for the airport:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| February 5-12 | 541 movements | 407 movements | 698 movements | +71.50% |
| February 12-19 | 535 movements | 430 movements | 689 movements | +60.23% |
| February 19-26 | 531 movements | 460 movements | 705 movements | +53.26% |
| February 26-March 5 | 533 movements | 469 movements | 710 movements | +51.39% |
What we can see from the data is that the movement data has exploded in the last couple of weeks, with Jeddah’s airport gearing up for further growth in the Summer 2023 season.
Which Airport is Busier?
With Saudi Arabia’s flagship carrier SAUDIA operating most of the flights out of Jeddah and Riyadh, the data shows that Jeddah comes out on top in this battle.
The differences within this are around 50-60 movements, so there isn’t too much ground for Riyadh to catch up on.
It can be expected that as more frequencies are added from both airports, the numbers could get even closer together in the battle.
But for now, Jeddah remains the key winner in this.
The Road Ahead for Saudi Arabia-based Travel…
Jeddah and Riyadh will be the two main airports to keep an eye on within Saudi Arabia, especially through the utilization of The Air Connectivity Program.
Wizz Air has been a key example of this, adding routes both to its Abu Dhabi subsidiary and also to its European one as well.
As more airlines sign on with The Air Connectivity Program, it offers a great chance that movement numbers out of Jeddah and Riyadh will continue to rise year-on-year.
All eyes are on Saudi Arabia to see how far they can take this program and whether it could turn the country into one of the big dogs of the travel world.
