Online travel agency lastminute.ae has launched, offering discounted flights from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to global destinations.
The new website will leverage the expertise of tech pioneer lastminute.com, which has been selling holiday packages to its European customer base since 1998.
Based in Dubai, the local company will cater to the needs of travellers in the Middle East, with a bespoke bilingual solution in Arabic and English.
“We are excited to be launching in the Middle East, the next key growth area in world travel,” said Yiannis Papadonikolakis, General Manager of lastminute.ae.
“Our customer-first approach means our focus is on making booking flights as easy and cost-effective as possible for everyone who visits our website. It’s been made-to-measure to regional requirements on where, when and how travellers want to fly.
“Our local knowledge, contacts and content, coupled with 25 years plus experience of lastminute.com in building new markets, means we are perfectly positioned to harness the big boom in Middle Eastern travel.”
The online flight ticketing market in the region has also shown significant growth thanks to digital adoption, internet availability and the shift to online retail.
According to IATA, the Middle East is expected to see airline traffic climb 8.8% in 2025, and passenger numbers are booming in the UAE in particular. According to OAG, the leading data platform for the global travel industry, in December Dubai International airport overtook Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to be the World’s Busiest Airport with 5.3 million seats.
In Saudi, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah served 49.1 million passengers in 2024, up 15% on 2023. And Kuwait City airport has a new terminal set to open in 2025, increasing capacity to 50 million passengers.
