Dubai International Airport’s passenger numbers grew by a record 6.1% to 7,727,105 in August, while year-to-date traffic totalled 55,850,353 (+6.9%) in the first eight months, according to Dubai Airports.

 

Airport management pointed to ‘the seasonal rush of travellers’ – and residents of the United Arab Emirates in particular – as the main reason for the rise, with many returning for the start of the academic year.

 

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports said, “Consecutive months with record-breaking traffic is a great way to mark the 56th anniversary of DXB which occurred last week. Looking back it’s astonishing to see how quickly a tiny airport that was once a refuelling stop for airlines has turned into the world’s number one international hub.

 

PLUS-750m PASSENGERS IN 55 YEARS

“Over these five and a half decades, DXB has welcomed more than three quarters of a billion passengers. As we continue to grow, our focus will continue to operate not only the world’s busiest airports, but also the world’s best in terms of customer service.”

 

 

Dubai Airports reported that Eastern Europe was the fastest-expanding market in terms of percentage growth (+67.9%), followed by Asia (+13%), South America (+11.7%), and the Indian sub-continent (+11.7%). India remained the top destination country (924,256 passengers), followed by the UK (584,508 passengers) and Saudi Arabia (535,280 passengers).

 

LONDON, DOHA AND KUWAIT LEAD…

London was singled out as the top destination city with 371,320 passengers, followed closely by Doha (252,616 passengers) and Kuwait (240,712 passengers). Baku (+284.5%) topped the list of cities in terms of percentage growth, followed by Mashhad (118.6%) and Boston (88.2%) – growth on the routes boosted by increased capacity.

 

The average number of passengers per flight during the month was 237 – one of the highest DXB says it has ever recorded.

 

Aircraft movements totalled 33,827 during the month under review compared to 34,773 movements recorded in August 2015, marginally down by 2.7 per cent. Year to date aircraft movement totalled 276,233 up 2.9 per cent compared to 268,360, recorded during the same period in 2015.