RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s airline spending increased for a second week in the week ending Nov. 7 as operations resumed at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh following Houthi strikes on the facility, official statistics indicated.
Point-of-sale transactions in the airline industry were SR33.83 million ($9.02 million), up 8.5 percent from the previous week, the Saudi Central Bank said. That follows an 11.2 percent gain in the week ended Oct. 31, pushing spending about 20.7 percent over the level of two weeks earlier. Airline transaction volume grew 4.7 percent to 179,000.
The POS transactions in the Kingdom totalled SR15.03 billion during the monitored week, a decrease of 2.5 percent compared to the previous seven-day period, while the number of transactions was flat at 264.85 million.
Economist Talat Hafiz told Arab News that the surge in airline expenditure over the past two weeks is a good sign of robust demand for travel. He said: “It also reflects the Kingdom’s rapid response in dealing with the damage caused by the Houthi terrorist attack and restoring airport operations.
The resumption of operations at King Khalid International Airport is further reinforcement of confidence in Saudi Arabia’s security, stability and ability to respond effectively.” Hafiz remarked that tOS data show people still want to travel, whether inside the Kingdom or abroad
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