Business | Aviation
Passenger traffic up 8% at Dubai International
Airport handled a record 51m travellers last year
- By Shweta Jain, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:00 January 25, 2012
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archives
- Passengers at Dubai International Airport. The strongest markets served in terms of passenger numbers last year were India, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Germany and the US, Dubai Airports said.
Dubai: Dubai International Airport handled a record 51 million passengers last year, an eight per cent increase over 2010, as Emirates and flydubai continued their growth, boosting tourism in the emirate, Dubai Airports said yesterday in a statement.
The airports body, which owns and manages the operation and development of Dubai's airports — Dubai International as well as Dubai World Central, added that 47.2 million passengers passed through the facility in 2010.
According to Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, passenger growth at Dubai International continued unabated, driven by airlines' new routes and additional frequencies even though the year was marred by economic uncertainty, political instability and high oil prices.
"That trend will continue in 2012 with our two largest airlines — Emirates and flydubai — set to receive additional aircraft throughout the year," he said in a statement.
Saj Ahmad, Chief Analyst for StrategicAero Research, added: "Despite economic pressures in Europe and the US, Dubai has managed to grow its allure of passengers coming to and through Dubai International and there's little to suggest that fortunes will be any different in 2012."
The strongest markets served in terms of passenger numbers last year were India, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Germany and the US, Dubai Airports said, adding that the most significant percentage traffic growth was seen on routes linking Dubai to Eastern Europe (up 81 per cent), Russia and CIS (up 30.5 per cent), GCC (up 26.5 per cent) and North America (up 16.1 per cent).
"Of the 51 million passengers catered for, much of this has come from strong regional markets in the GCC led in large part to a rapid expansion and customer attraction to low-cost airlines," Ahmad told Gulf News.
He added that this year regional growth is expected to drive traffic numbers at Dubai International, the world's fourth busiest airport in terms of international passenger and cargo traffic.
Looking ahead, Ahmad said that the focus has to now be on DWC-Al Maktoum Airport.
Additional capacity
"Dubai needs additional capacity and is one of the few major cities with a second airport to come on stream," he said.
December passenger numbers, meanwhile, reached 4.69 million, according to Dubai Airports' annual traffic report, an increase of 10.2 per cent over the 4.26 million in the same month in 2010.
Aircraft movements totalled 29,519 in December, up 7.7 per cent from the 27,398 in the same month the previous year, and 326,317 for the full year, up 6.2 per cent per cent versus 2010.
Further, 28 new passenger destinations were added at the airport last year while 17 were discontinued, boosting overall passenger destinations served by Dubai International to 215 compared to 204 just one year ago.
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