Dnata to handle 20m passengers in Dubai airport this summer

Air travel service provider dnata said that it is expecting to handle nearly 20 million passengers during the summer months at the Dubai International airport this year.

The Dubai-based company said that it expected to manage around 50,000 flights and 30 million bags from around the world in the months of June, July and August.

This volume means the dnata teams at Dubai International airport will handle a flight every 80 seconds on average, the statement said.
Dnata said that the human resources required to prepare an airplane for its next leg of journey varied from the type of aircraft.

A Boeing 737 requires 16 people while the A380 superjumbo will need at least 52 people to prepare it for the next group of passengers, cargo and baggage.

“During the summer, however, families anticipate their holidays more than other travel periods,” said dnata’s divisional senior vice president Jon Conway.

“In Dubai, we can turnaround a fully loaded aircraft in as little as 60 minutes.”

Summer months are traditionally busy for Dubai airport terminals as a number of travellers transit to locations in the subcontinent and Asia.

Dubai-based airline Emirates said that nearly 62,000 passengers boarded flights in the last weekend of June from Dubai to other locations.

Dubai International saw 5.07 million passengers in June and 5.16 million passengers in July last year. The 2014 passenger figures were mainly down due to refurbishment of its runways, which temporarily cut down capacity.

The airport overtook London’s Heathrow as the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic last year as it registered nearly 70.4 million passengers. The airport is aiming to handle about 100 million passengers after it completes the ongoing physical expansion.