Dubai: The Dubai International handled a record 51 million passengers last year, marking an eight per cent increase in the passenger traffic against 2010, Dubai Airports said in a statement on Tuesday.
The airports body, which owns and manages operation and development of both of Dubai's airports - Dubai International as well as Dubai World Central, added that 47.2 million passengers passed through the facility in 2010.
"In a year that was characterised by economic uncertainty, political instability and high oil prices passenger growth continued unabated driven by new routes and additional frequencies as airlines capitalised on Dubai's attractiveness as a business and tourism destination and efficiency as a transfer hub. That trend will continue in 2012 with our two largest airlines - Emirates and flydubai - set to receive additional aircraft throughout the year," Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said in a statement.
The strongest markets served in terms of total passenger numbers included India, UK, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Germany and USA. The most significant percentage traffic growth during the year was seen on routes linking Dubai to Eastern Europe (+81 per cent), Russia & CIS (+30.5 per cent) AGGC (+26.5 per cent) and North America (+16.1 per cent), according to Dubai Airports.
December passenger numbers reached 4.69 million, marking an increase of 10.2 per cent compared to 4.26 million recorded during the same month in 2010, according to the annual traffic report issued by Dubai Airports.
Aircraft movements, meanwhile, totalled 29,519 in December, up 7.7 per cent from the 27,398 registered during the same period in the previous year, and 326,317 for the full year, up 6.2 per cent per cent versus 2010.
Average passenger numbers per passenger aircraft movement, however, remained flat at 184 compared to 185 during 2010 as the airport continues to benefit from the efficiencies offered by the large number of wide-body jets that operate into it, Dubai Airports stated.
It added that during 2011, 28 new passenger destinations were added while 17 were discontinued boosting overall passenger destinations served by Dubai International to 215 compared to 204 just one year ago.
