Dubai Airports has claimed another record as January passenger traffic rose by 9.7% to 8,037,008 for the first time, up from 7,327,637 in the corresponding period in 2016.

 

As the airports company says, this comes on the back of the last calendar year’s record breaking 83.6m passengers recorded at Dubai, with the January result boosted by holidays during the month, plus the annual Dubai Shopping Festival.

 

PREDICTING ANOTHER RECORD YEAR

“It’s an auspicious start to what is sure to be another record-breaking year for DXB,” said a confident Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

 

“It provides further impetus to our DXB Plus Programme, which will enhance service and boost capacity at DXB by applying technology to improved processes. It also fuels our ongoing efforts to improve the customer experience with world-leading wi-fi, retail, F&B and a wide array of offers ranging from spas to VIP service to live music.”

 

 

FASTEST GROWING REGION: EASTERN EUROPE

In terms of the passenger breakdown, Eastern Europe was the fastest growing region by percentage with a +32.5% rise in passengers, followed by Asia (+26.4%), South America (+18.6%) and Australasia (15.8%).

 

Measuring hard passenger numbers, passengers from the Indian subcontinent led the way (1,876,448) followed by those from Western Europe (1,701,494), and the GCC states (1,363,089).

 

London (338,816 passengers) topped the list of top destinations followed by Doha (283,341), Kuwait (229,068) and Mumbai (223,399).