Dubai airport passenger traffic up 8.2% in September

Passenger traffic at Dubai International airport rose 8.2 per cent in September to reach over 6.4 million, according to a report from operator Dubai Airports.

Aircraft movements also increased by 10.6 per cent to 34,146 during September, compared to the 30,871 recorded during the same month last year.

Passengers per aircraft movement in September came in at 198, the report added.

Eastern Europe (up by 62.7 per cent) topped all markets in terms of percentage passenger growth, followed by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (up 18.4 per cent), mainly driven by Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Traffic from North America also grew 17.4 per cent mainly because of Emirates increasing capacity on several routes and the launch of additional daily flights to both New York and Seattle, the report said.

In terms of overall passenger traffic, the GCC was the top market during the month, closely followed by the Indian subcontinent.

The report also found that year-to-date passenger traffic rose 12 per cent to around 58.7 million, compared to 52.4 million recorded during the first nine months of 2014.

Aircraft movements during the period also surged 17.2 per cent primarily due to the impact of the 80-day runway upgrade programme conducted last year, Dubai Airports said.

Meanwhile passengers per aircraft movement stood at 203 – driven by Emirates’ fleet of wide-body aircraft.

In terms of cargo, air freight volumes recorded a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent in September while year-to-date cargo traffic rose 2.6 per cent to 1,853,130 tonnes.

“Passenger and cargo traffic growth has been fairly robust during the first three quarters this year and with major events such as the Dubai Airshow and the Dubai Shopping Festival lined up over the coming months, we expect the trend to continue throughout the remainder of the year,” said the chief executive officer of Dubai Airports Paul Griffiths.

“We are pleased to be all set for another year of record growth.”

Dubai overtook London’s Heathrow as the world’s busiest airport for international travellers last year.

Earlier this year, Griffiths said that the emirate’s two major international airports – including Al Maktoum – expected to receive around 200 million passengers by 2030.

“By 2020, we expect Dubai International to have ultimate capacity of 100 million. By 2020, the traffic projections for the amount of air travel through Dubai will reach 126 million,” he said.