Dubai International Airport is running at 63% capacity
Restrictions on the India and UK routes remain main hurdles to improved numbers
Dubai: Passenger numbers at Dubai International Airport (DXB) during April came in lower, at 1.87 million, compared to March's 2.03 million.
DXB is currently operating around 63 per cent of the pre-COVID-19 destinations with around 75 per cent of its airlines present. “There are restrictions on frequency, airport capacity and aircraft capacity,” said Dubai Airports' CEO Paul Griffiths. “It's all working at the moment and the traffic levels are sufficient that we don't have any problems separating people. But as things get busier, clearly, is going to be a challenge.”
The absence of flights from Indian and the UK continue to impact on numbers. Over the first four months, traveller numbers came to 7.62 million, according to Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA). As per the regulator’s data, aircraft movement at DXB stood at around 86,523.
Earlier this month, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said the hub was seeing around 1.5 million to 2 million passengers. This is “about 67 per cent below where we were in a typical first quarter,” said Griffiths during a Centre for Aviation (CAPA) Live event.