Dubai International ‘down to 1.5m to 2m passengers a month,’ says Dubai Airports Chief

Dubai: Dubai International Airport (DXB) is seeing around 1.5 million to 2 million passengers a month, according to Dubai Airports Chief Paul Griffiths.

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 on Wednesday.

DXB is currently operating around 63 per cent of the pre-COVID destinations with around 75 per cent of its airlines present here, said Griffiths.

“There are restrictions on frequency, airport capacity and aircraft capacity,” said 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”

More secondary markets

The airport head believes that over time Dubai will emerge as a destination and cease being just a transfer hub for global travelers.

“Although we think that the transfer hub will be stronger than it was before, when the pandemic starts to recede … there'll be more secondary markets by smaller aircraft, feeding the hub,” said Griffiths.

Speaking about the codeshare deal between Emirates and flydubai, Griffiths said he expects Dubai’s flagship airline to serve more than 200 unique destinations as it emerges from the pandemic.

“And now the 737 max is back in the air, but there's a lot of longer haul destinations that are too big for a wide body and have been out of reach of a single aisle that will now become within the scope of that combined network,” said Griffiths.

“This is an immense opportunity … to solidify the close collaboration between Emirates, flydubai and Dubai International,” he added.