For the seventh consecutive month, Dubai International recorded 11.7% passenger traffic growth this February, with estimated numbers reaching more than 5.5 million people. Compared to last year’s statistics for the same period, total aircraft movements have increased by 4%, or over 10,000 flights.
According to the monthly statistics, released by Dubai Airports, passenger traffic reached 5,675,246 in February, recording an increase of 11.7 percent from the same period in 2013, when 5,080,360 people used the services of the airport. From the beginning of the year up to now, 12,075,952 passengers have flown, or a traffic growth of 13.5 percent from the first two months of 2013. The statement also says that overall, traffic was boosted by the recent substantial network expansion from Emirates Airline, and flydubai.
The highest growth in passenger traffic is recorded by the Indian subcontinent by 121,794 people up. It is followed by Western Europe, GCC countries and Asia. Top destination country is India with nearly 700,000 passengers, while its financial capital Mumbai is the busiest destination. Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom are the other most preferred destinations, with 434, 454 and 405, 141 passengers, respectively. Due to Emirates’ partnership with Australian carrier Qantas, Australasia is the fastest growing market, with increase of 30.5 percent. Other markets recording expansion in terms of percentage are Asia (up 18.4 percent), Eastern Europe (by 17.4 percent) and North America (by 16.2 percent). India may be the top destination country, but Qatar’s capital, Doha, is the top destination city during this period, followed by international travel hub London, and the regional Kuwait and Jeddah.
Total aircraft movements in February are up by 4 percent, reaching 29,220. The year-to-date growth is also a little over 4 percent – 61,845 in February 2014, compared to the 59,417 recorded over the same period of 2013. Fright volumes have increased by 3.4 percent, reaching 188,702 tones only in February.
January figures were even more impressive – Dubai International served over 6.4 million passengers in January, an increase of nearly one million people! Paul Griffiths, CEO at Dubai Airports, commented that by 2015, the emirate’s modern airport is likely to outperform London Heathrow and become the world’s premier international passenger airport.
