Dubai International passenger numbers climb 14.3%

Dubai International registered its second busiest month on record with 4.92 million passengers passing through the world’s fourth busiest international aviation hub in October, an increase of 14.3 per cent. That is according to the monthly traffic report issued today by airport operator Dubai Airports.

Passenger traffic in October totalled 4,923,246, up 14.3 per cent from 4,307,817 recorded during the same month in 2011. Year to date traffic has climbed 13.5 per cent to 47,488,586 compared to 41,855,561 recorded during the corresponding period last year.

AGCC recorded the largest increase in total passenger numbers* in October (+189,991 passengers), followed by Western Europe (+148,945), the Indian subcontinent (+81,533 passengers), and Asia (+42,768 passengers). Contraction in traffic on Middle Eastern routes continued in October (-7,760) as a result of unrest in certain parts of the region.

The strongest markets in terms of percentage passenger growth were South America (+93.2 per cent) driven by new Emirates airline’s operations to destinations there, followed by AGCC (28.2 per cent), Russia and CIS (+25.7 per cent), and Eastern Europe (+24.2 per cent).

Aircraft movements in October rose 3.9 per cent to 29,578 from 28,463 recorded during the same month in 2011. The year to date movements totalled 283,551, up 5.9 per cent from 267,706 movements between January and October 2011.

Dubai International handled 202,619 tonnes of cargo in October, an increase of 2.4 per cent over the 197,841 tonnes recorded during the same period in 2011. The year to date freight volumes reached 1,877,616 tonnes compared to 1,813,013 tonnes handled during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 3.6 per cent.

“Growth continues at an impressive clip with almost five million passengers monthly fast becoming the norm,” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said. “At this rate we expect to exceed our initial forecast of 56.5 million passengers and should end the year at or around 57 million passengers.”