Dubai Airport Now Ranks As World’s Second Busiest

Dubai International Airport has moved ahead of Paris Charles de Gaulle to become the world’s second busiest airport for international passenger traffic, according to figures published by Airports Council International.

The airport’s passenger traffic rose 13 per cent to 10,640,120 passengers in the first two months of this year and after moving up two spots in the global rankings in the last year, is second only to London Heathrow.

Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said it is a clear signal that more people are choosing Dubai “as their preferred hub”. From April 1, more passengers will be passing through the airport as the joint Emirates-Qantas global partnership, which was formally approved yesterday by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, takes off.

“Given our surging growth rate and London Heathrow’s capacity constraints we are well placed to overtake them as the world’s busiest airport for international traffic by 2015,” said Griffiths.