Dubai airport passengers up

Dubai International Airport recorded strong growth in passenger numbers in the first five months of the year as it witnessed a more than 13 per cent increase over last year’s corresponding period.

By Abdul Basit

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Published: Tue 3 Jul 2012, 11:03 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 11:07 AM

Dubai Airports on Monday reported a 10.4 per cent year-on-year increase in May for passenger numbers. Passenger traffic reached 4.4 million in May 2012 compared to the 3.9 million passengers who passed through the Dubai airport during the same month in 2011, according to the company.

The strong performance in the January-to-May period has propelled the year-to-date traffic to 23.2 million, compared to the 20.5 million in the corresponding period last year.

Emirates and low-cost carrier flydubai are jointly contributing a lot in passenger growth at Dubai International and further growth plans of these Dubai-based airlines will help achieve record growth this year and years ahead, according to an aviation analyst.

“Dubai Airport continues to build on the strength of the expansion of passenger traffic via Emirates and flydubai as the airport proceeds towards surpassing the figures amassed in 2011,” Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research, told Khaleej Times. “Furthermore, the political instability in some parts of the Middle East and economic issues in European countries have not dampened enthusiasm of travelers to pass through Dubai and we’re bound to see a summer surge going forward in the following months.”

Dubai Airports owns and manages the operations of Dubai’s two airports — Dubai International, the world’s fourth busiest hub for international traffic, and Dubai World Central, which will be the largest airport in the world upon its completion. “Dubai International has had a strong showing in terms of passenger traffic so far this year with double-digit growth recorded in four of the first five months. With forecast suggesting the growth trend to continue during the second half of the year, we are well on track to achieve the projected traffic of 56.5 million by the end of 2012,” Dubai Airports chief executive officer Paul Griffiths said.

The Arab Gulf Cooperation Council recorded the largest increase in total passenger numbers in May, followed by Africa, Western Europe and the Sub-continent. In terms of percentage growth, traffic on South American routes surged 114.2 per cent, albeit from a low base. Russia and CIS benefited from flydubai’s ongoing expansion into that region with traffic increasing 43.7 per cent. Middle East passenger traffic continues to be affected by the instability in the region with a contraction of 2.5 per cent in May. Aircraft movements for the month totalled 28,304, an increase of five per cent compared to the 26,969 movements recorded during the same period last year. The number of year-to-date aircraft movements reached 142,821 compared with 133,271 recorded during the corresponding period in 2011, an increase of 7.2 per cent. In terms of cargo volumes, Dubai International handled 187,638 tonnes of air freight in May, a contraction of 0.1 per cent compared to 187,905 tonnes recorded during the same period in 2011. The year-to-date freight volume has reached 891,464 tonnes, up 1.4 per cent over 879,359 tonnes for the corresponding period last year.

abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com


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