Dubai maintains number one airport status with 83.6m pax

By Doug Newhouse |

Dubai-DXB-leadDubai Airports reported today that Dubai International (DBX) continues to hold title to the world’s number one international passenger airport after generating a 7.2% increase to 83.6m passengers in 2016.

 

Airport management said today that this achievement was thanks to the seven million passenger level being achieved on six separate months during 2016 to end the year with a grand total of 83,654,250 (compared with 78,014,838 passengers in 2015).

 

Several new airlines (including Nepal Airlines Corporation and Rossiya) launched services to DXB, as 11 new destinations were opened thanks to network expansion activities from flydubai, Emirates and other international carriers.

 

Commenting on the performance, airport management said: “India continued to lead as Dubai’s single largest destination country for the full year with 11,440,215 passengers in 2016, up 10.1% compared to 10,391,376 passengers recorded in 2015.

 

Saudi Arabia took the second spot with 6,086,158 passengers (+11.3%) just marginally overtaking the UK at 6,061,342 (+6.7%).

 

flydubai planes

Low-cost carrier flydubai has opened up many more routes and is making a very positive contribution to additional traffic at Dubai International Airport.

LONDON WAS TOP DESTINATION CITY

“In terms of destination cities connected to DXB, London took the top spot from Doha with 3,751,596 passengers, while Doha clocked 2,999,762 passengers followed closely by Mumbai with 2,357,103 passengers.”

 

The airport added that the top growth regions in 2016 were Eastern Europe (17.5%).

 

This spurred by ongoing growth on routes to the region and network expansion by Emirates, flydubai and other airlines, Asia (11.4%), and the Indian subcontinent (9.5%).

 

Dubai also pointed to very healthy average load factors in terms average passenger numbers per flight, which reached 209 during 2016, up 4% from the same period in 2015.

 

 

 

CLOSING THE GAP ON ATLANTA AND BEIJING…

Adding his comments, Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports’ CEO said: “After emerging as the world’s number one airport for international passengers in 2014, DXB has firmly established itself as the leader in that category. With our new forecast for 89m passengers in 2017, DXB is closing the gap on Atlanta and Beijing for the top spot in overall traffic.

 

Paul Griffiths - Dubai Airports small

Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports’ CEO.

“We continue to enable that growth and enhance the passenger experience with top flight infrastructure, streamlined processes and technology. Our focus in 2017 and beyond will be on making the airport experience even more delightful, engaging and comfortable for our customers.

 

“Our DXB Plus programme will see a series of new and unique initiatives and technologies introduced at the airport to make DXB not only the busiest, but also the world’s best international airport.”

 

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