Passenger numbers rise at Dubai airport

Dubai: The number of passengers using Dubai International Airport (DIA) is expected to touch 40.5 million by the end of this year, an increase of eight per cent over 2008, according to Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.

The announcement was made at The Middle East Duty Free Conference that took place here yesterday.

Earlier this month the airport operator posted a rise of 11.7 per cent in passenger traffic for October over the same month in 2008. It marked the airport's fifth consecutive month of double-digit growth.

The airport handled 3,496,366 passengers last month compared to 3,130,333 passengers in October last year, raising the passenger throughput year-to-date to 33,565,105, up 8.3 per cent over the first ten months of 2008.

While the global econ-omic downturn severely affected the aviation industry, the Middle East region showed significant resilience to bounce back quickly and post growth again while the rest of the world still suffers losses.

Strong performance

Regional carriers experienced an 18.2-per cent year-on-year increase in September, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) statistics.

They also showed the strongest performance of any region with a 3.6-per cent year-on-year improvement.

Speaking at the conference, Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, observed that DIA was the only one still posting significant growth among the world's top ten airports.

He said that traffic from Europe had started to return in recent months and also from Russia.

With more long-haul flights, the access to more markets will present higher growth opportunities, he said.

"Business is becoming more global."

"Additional capacity will come online as operations start in June next year at Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International Airport. As its first phase nears completion, it will have the capacity to serve five million passengers per year, as well as over 600,000 tonnes of cargo annually. We continue to expand ahead of demand," he said, predicting a compound annual growth rate of 8 per cent for coming years.

Revenue model

To maintain sustainable growth, Griffiths said that airlines would have to play a greater role in revenue generation by collaborating with retailers.

"The government is increasing investment in airports which will result in increased revenues. [Currently] we can't rely on airlines for those investments."

He said that the airport authority, retailers and airlines would have to come together under another collaborative business model to fund Dubai World Central.

Dubai Airports' traffic forecast for Dubai International and Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International predicts 13.6 per cent growth in international passenger traffic in 2010, with total passenger traffic expected to exceed 46 million.