Dubai: Dubai International is yet to secure the title of world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic despite eclipsing London Heathrow in the first quarter, according to Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports’ chief executive.
“Heathrow’s traffic will recover dramatically about now as the summer starts to kick in and therefore they may close the gap,” he said in an interview.
In the first quarter, 18.3 million international passengers travelled through Dubai International compared to the 16 million at London’s Heathrow airport.
But while Dubai International saw a 15.3 per cent jump in passengers figures last year compared to Heathrow’s 3.5 per cent increase, Griffiths is not ready to claim the title.
“What you’ve got to remember in the northern hemisphere, particularly in Europe, there is a big seasonality for traffic in the summer and winter,” he said.
Dubai International is undergoing scheduled runway maintenance work for 80 days, which started on May 1, reducing flights by 26 per cent over the period. Despite the drop in flights, Griffiths said passenger numbers should not drop too much due to select airlines adding larger aircraft to their operations.
But taking the number one spot is also not a priority, with Griffiths focused on improving the level of passenger experience at Dubai International.
“I would like to claim the number one spot for service rather than volume. That will be the real differentiator [and it’s] going to be very tough consider the challenges of capacity we’ve got here,” Griffiths said.
Dubai Airports, the operator of the emirates’ two airports, is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in expanding and improving the efficiency of Dubai International.
“I’d take greater pride in improving the level of service we provide to our customers than simply reporting volume that we’re number one,” Griffiths said.
Smooth flow
In recent years, the operator has invested in “smoothing the flow” of the airport with “huge amounts” poured into improving the security machines that, Griffiths said, are three times more efficient that the previous.
Another priority is improving the “ambience” of the airport, Griffiths said, adding that Terminal 2 is “a much better experience [today] than three to four years ago.”
Dubai Airports is trying to expand on what little space it has left. The current capacity is 75 million passengers a year with the airport handling 66 million in 2013. The declared aim is to raise that to 90 million but Griffiths believes the airport will be handling around 100 million passengers by the end of the decade.
“Concourse D is coming along. The idea is to have the construction completed very early in 2015 … somewhere between the first quarter and the second quarter,” Griffiths said.
The idea is that airlines operating in Concourse C will be able to switch over to Concourse D, subsequently making room for the airports flagship airline, Emirates, to expand into Concourse C.
But Dubai Airports is limited on how much more it can stretch Dubai International. Years ago it had planned to construct a fourth terminal.
“We did consider the potential of further expansion but actually within the envelope of the airports, we’re pretty much out of space now so there is no further scope to expand Dubai International,” Griffiths said.
