Dubai International hits new monthly passenger peak

Dubai International began the New Year as it left off in 2015 with record monthly traffic of 7.3 million passengers in January. The result surpassed the previous monthly benchmark of 7.2 million passengers set in August 2015.

Passenger traffic reached 7,327,637 in January 2016, up +6.3% year-on-year, said operator Dubai Airports.

North American routes recorded the highest growth in passenger traffic (+19.9%) – driven by national carrier Emirates with the addition of an Orlando route and increased services to Boston, New York and Seattle. GCC routes (+11.6%) also flourished, with Saudi Arabia registering double-digit growth thanks to a surge in traffic from Jeddah.

The Indian Subcontinent (+8.7%) did well too, propelled mainly by strong traffic on routes to the traditionally strong markets of India and Pakistan.

India remained the top destination country in January with a total of 989,819 passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (606,730) and the UK (488,819). London ranked number one on the list of top destination cities, followed closely by Doha and Jeddah.

“The record passenger numbers in January confirm that the growth trend from last year has continued into 2016 and we are on course to meet our projection of 85 million passengers that we expect to pass through our airport this year,” said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths.

“Concourse D’s opening in February has increased DXB’s capacity to 90 million passengers a year, allowing us to continue to accommodate the rising number of people whilst boosting service levels. In the months ahead we will begin the complete refurbishment of Concourse C, which will further improve passenger flows and the overall customer experience,” he added.