Dubai Airports expects 143 million passengers in 2020

Dubai Airports is expecting to carry 143 million passengers through Dubai International and World Central Airports in 2020, the company has confirmed.

In comments carried by Dubai Media Office late Thursday, Majed Al Joker, senior vice president of Dubai Airports for corporate assurance and governance, outlined the expected passengers increase from around 89 million passengers today.

He also detailed the company’s 2017 to 2025 strategic plan, which is targeting a Dhs195bn ($53bn) share of the aviation sector, equivalent to 37.5 per cent of Dubai’s GDP by 2020.

Around 745,000 jobs are expected to be provided by the sector to 2020.

Talal Al Shanqiti, assistant to the director general for air and land ports affairs, directorate general of residency and foreigners affairs, said Dubai received 55 million passengers last year, not including transit passengers – a 7 per cent increase on 2015.

Dubai International alone carried a total of 83.6 million passengers in 2016, up 7.2 per cent on the year before.

Read: Dubai airport welcomes 83.6m passengers in 2016, remains world’s busiest int’l

Dubai Airports is forecasting it will receive 89 million passengers at the airport this year.