Dubai International once again registered a record passenger traffic. Only in April, one of the world’s busiest airports welcomed over 6.1 million people. In addition to that, the runway construction works at Dubai International are moving forward at a faster pace than the iniatally predicted.
Dubai Airports announced that Dubai’s main airport saw a passenger traffic increase of 13.7% in April 2014, reaching nearly 6.2 million. In comparison, one year ago, in April 2013, the airport’s passenger traffic was estimated at 5.4 million. In that way, Dubai International scores a third rise in just four months. From January to April 2014, the airport witnessed a passenger traffic of over 6 million almost on a monthly basis. The total traffic during the first four months of the year is estimated at over 24.5 million, whereas last year it amounted to only 21.9 million.
Dubai International’s total aircraft movements in April jumped by 2.5% and hit 31,234. From the beginning of the 2014, there are calculated at a total of nearly 126,000, which once again is an impressive climb compared to 2013. Similar was the situation with the cargo volumes which passed through Dubai’s airport. The jump here is estimated at 3.7% after they increased by almost 8,000 tons.
The most impressive passenger growth was recorded to come from Western Europe. Passengers from this region are reported to have increased by more than 172,000 people. South Asian passengers increased with a similar rate – over 166,000 people.
Despite that impressive April growth, Dubai International is expected to see a decrease in its May and June passenger traffic. That is due to the runway upgrades which kicked off on May 1 and will continue until July 20.
However, the construction works at Dubai International may be completed faster than it was initially predicted. From Dubai Airports shared that the runway upgrades are already moving ahead of schedule. Works on the southern runway of the airport finished on May 27 – four days earlier. As a result, the upgrade of the northern runway has also started earlier than the expected. If this pace is maintained, Dubai International may be ready before July 20.
Even if the runway upgrade follows its regular schedule, Dubai International assures that it will be able to return back to its normal passenger traffic in August at the latest.
