Category: Airlines

Salman Gul > Insights > Airlines

How to Run Google Ads for Airlines & Travel in the GCC

Posted on August 15, 2026August 15, 2026 by Salman Gul

The GCC is home to some of the world's most ambitious airlines, and every one of them fights the same battle on Google: winning the direct booking before an aggregator or online travel agency intercepts it. When a traveller searches...Read More

Bahrain Duty Free and the Role of Digital Marketing

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

Bahrain is the Gulf's boutique hub, and its duty free just went upmarket. Bahrain International Airport (BIA) handled around 9.4 million passengers in 2024, comfortably below the 14-million capacity of its light-filled US$1.1 billion terminal that opened in 2021. Home...Read More

Jeddah Duty Free and the Role of Digital Marketing

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

Jeddah is unlike any other duty-free market in the Gulf, because its airport is the gateway to the Two Holy Mosques. King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA/JED) is Saudi Arabia's busiest, hitting a record 53.4 million passengers in 2025, and it...Read More

Riyadh Duty Free and the Role of Digital Marketing

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

Riyadh is the growth capital of Gulf travel retail. King Khalid International Airport (KKIA/RUH) handled 37.6 million passengers in 2024, is growing at double digits under Vision 2030, and will one day be absorbed into King Salman International Airport, a...Read More

Qatar Duty Free and the Role of Digital Marketing

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

Qatar Duty Free is travel retail's experiential luxury leader. A 100% subsidiary of Qatar Airways, it runs more than 200 retail and dining outlets across 32,889 square metres at Hamad International Airport, named SKYTRAX World's Best Airport Shopping three years...Read More

Sharjah Duty Free and the Role of Digital Marketing

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

Sharjah is the Gulf's value gateway, home to Air Arabia, the region's largest low-cost carrier, and one of its fastest-growing airports: Sharjah International (SHJ) handled 19.48 million passengers in 2025, up 13.9% and more than triple its pandemic low. That...Read More

Abu Dhabi Duty Free and the Role of Digital Marketing

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

Abu Dhabi Duty Free is the newest flagship in Gulf travel retail, reborn inside Zayed International Airport's vast Terminal A, which opened in November 2023 and helped the airport handle a record 32.5 million passengers in 2025. Beauty-led and prestige-heavy,...Read More

Dubai Duty Free and the Role of Digital Marketing

Posted on August 14, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

Dubai Duty Free is the benchmark for travel retail worldwide, and its record 2025, sales of AED 8.680 billion (US$2.378 billion), up 9.85% and the best in its 42-year history, was built as much on digital marketing as on prime...Read More

Airline SEO in Arabic and English (2026)

Posted on August 9, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

For a GCC airline, search is where a huge share of high-intent travel demand begins, and capturing it requires SEO done properly in two languages. Arabic and English are distinct search markets, with different keywords, intent, phrasing and, in Arabic's...Read More

Route Demand Generation and Seasonal Fare Campaigns (2026)

Posted on August 8, 2026August 14, 2026 by Salman Gul

Filling seats on the right routes at the right time is one of the hardest jobs in airline commercial strategy, and it is fundamentally a digital marketing challenge. New routes must build demand from zero; established routes swing with a...Read More