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Dubai International, the world's No.1 international airport, welcomed nearly seven million passengers in April, its operator Dubai Airports revealed on Monday.
Passenger numbers reached 6.98 million in April, up 7.2 per cent from the 6.5 million guests who visited the airport in April 2015.
"We are very pleased with the growth so far this year and with the summer travel peak round the corner the numbers are only going to increase," Dubai Airports chief executive officer Paul Griffiths said in a statement.
During the first four months of 2016, Dubai International welcomed 27.9 million passengers, compared to 26.12 million passengers during the same period last year, an increase of 6.9 per cent.
"Dubai International is expected to welcome a record number of passengers. We are actively working with our partners devising a robust operational plan which will involve the deployment of additional staff," Griffiths added.
In terms of percentage growth, Eastern Europe topped the list during April with routes to the region growing 12.6 per cent, followed by Asia with 12.1 per cent and the GCC with 10.3 per cent. The Indian subcontinent outperformed all regions in terms of growth in passenger numbers with 1.64 million passengers, followed by the Western Europe with 1.5 million and the GCC with 1.25 million passengers.
Dubai International continues to expand its dominance, according to a senior aviation analyst.
"With the airport catering for almost 28 million passengers in just four months, it is well on track for another historic year. Emirates' organic growth coupled with new routes and new airplanes has helped drive expansion at the upper end of the market," Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London's StrategicAero Research, told Khaleej Times.
"Expansion and frequency growth in the GCC, led largely by flydubai's growth has bolstered demand as the summer season gets into full swing. It's likely that performance for the month of May 2016 will echo this sentiment."
Total aircraft movements reached 34,733 in April 2016 up 4.3 per cent compared to 33,279 during the corresponding month in 2015. In the first four months of the year, total aircraft movements rose 5.4 per cent to 139,079 compared to 132.005 movements during the same period in 2015.
The average number of passengers per movement was 210 during April.
Dubai International recorded freight volumes totalling 213,790 in April compared to 204,075 in the same month last year, an increase of 4.8 per cent. Year-to-date cargo totalled 828,934 tonnes, up 3.8 per cent compared to 798,770 tonnes handled during the first four months in 2015.
- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com
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