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Dubai Int’l posts record traffic growth in August

Dubai International airport recorded the strongest growth of the year in passenger numbers as it touched year-on-year increase of 21 per cent in August.

Passenger numbers at the world’s fourth busiest hub for international passengers and cargo exceeded the 4.5 million mark for the seventh time this year, according to the August traffic report issued by airport operator Dubai Airports.

To see this level of passengers coming through, despite the fact that almost two thirds of August fall in Islamic Holy month of Ramadan shows the sheer resilience of passenger traffic coming to and going via Dubai, according to an aviation analyst.

“The airport is easily on track to surpass the record seen in 2011 and with Emirates expansion, coupled with a surge in low cost airline traffic growth through flydubai,” Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research, told Khaleej Times. The airport began the second half of 2012 on a strong note by surpassing the five million passengers’ mark in July for the first time in its history. The previous high for monthly traffic was 4.85 million passengers recorded in January this year and the same level was also achieved last month.

Passenger traffic at Dubai International surged 20.59 per cent from 4 million in August 2011 to reach 4.85 million this August, according to the report.

The high growth rate can be attributed largely to a lower base caused by fluctuating travel patterns during the holy month of Ramadan in August 2011. Year-to-date passenger numbers reached 37.8 million, up 13.4 per cent over the 33.3 million recorded during the corresponding period last year.

“Dubai International has successfully completed another record summer rush,” Dubai Airports chief executive officer Paul Griffiths said in a statement.

“The non-stop growth is a testament to Dubai’s attraction to tourists and businesses around the world. Providing top-flight infrastructure to accommodate that growth is another of Dubai’s key strengths and one that will play a key role in supporting Dubai’s World Expo 2020 bid,” Griffiths added.

Traffic growth returned to the AGCC routes after a brief lull in July, which coincided with Ramadan. In August, the AGCC topped the list of regions with the largest growth in passenger numbers, followed by Western Europe, the Sub-continent, and Africa. The top regions in terms of percentage growth in traffic included South America (97.8 per cent), the AGCC (47.8 per cent), and Russia & CIS (37.4 per cent).

Aircraft movements during August reached 27,986, up 8.3 per cent from 25,845 recorded during the corresponding month in 2011. During the first eight months of the year aircraft movements totalled 226,064, up 6.4 per cent from 221,383 posted during the corresponding period in 2011.

Moderate growth in cargo volumes continued at Dubai International with freight volumes totalling 190,770 tonnes in August, up 4.4 per cent compared to 182,782 tonnes of air freight recorded during the same period last year. Year-to-date freight volumes reached 1.48 million tonnes, up 3 per cent over the 1.43 million tonnes for the corresponding period in 2011. — abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com