More travellers in the Middle East and North Africa region are flying this winter compared to last year, according to Wego, one of the largest online travel marketplaces in Mena.

This season, families and travellers are gearing up for winter vacation, either for leisurely trips or expat residents are preparing to pay a visit home. In time for the holiday, stated Wego, while revealing the top booking trends for Winter 2023 among Mena travellers. 

Wego has observed that there's been a steady rise in booking numbers every year since the post-pandemic period of 2021, reflecting a growing appetite for winter travel among Mena travellers.

Cairo tops the list of winter destinations for Mena residents this year, followed by Jeddah, Dubai, Istanbul, and Kuwait.

Major cities in the South and Southeast Asia also feature on the list, with Manila, Lahore, and Delhi in the top 10. Travel interest in these destinations may represent the homecoming trips for the Filipino, Indian, and Pakistani communities in the region, it stated.

Popular flight routes cheaper

According to Wego’s data, average flight prices for some popular routes are lower this winter compared to last year.

Flights to Cairo from several GCC countries notably saw some of the steepest price drops, averaging up to 35% cut compared to last year's winter period. Moreover, the Cairo routes are now cheaper than during this year’s summer holiday, between 5% and 43.56% decrease, depending on the departure city.

Even compared to pre-pandemic rates, Cairo routes now sport cheaper price tags. For instance, the average ticket price from Riyadh to Cairo in 2023 has dropped by 112.81% compared to the winter period toward the end of 2019.

Similarly, the Kuwait-Cairo route shows a decline of 62% compared to the average price before the pandemic.

Other popular destinations such as Istanbul, Lahore, and London have also witnessed average flight price reductions compared to the previous year. For example, flights to Istanbul from Saudi Arabian cities are now cheaper by an average of 31.86% compared to last yea, said the Wego report.

Manila stood as an exception, where Wego observed up to a 10% YoY increase in flight prices during winter 2023 from various departure points across Mena, it added.-TradeArabia News Service