Dubai International Passenger Traffic Up 13.1% In September

Passenger traffic through Dubai International Airport, the world’s second busiest airport, rose 13.1 per cent in September compared to a year earlier, reaching 5.4 million people.

The figure was down on August, when passenger numbers hit 6 million, partly due to related travel for the holy month of Ramadan.

Traffic for the first nine months of the year stands at 49.4 million, up from 42.6 million for the first three quarters in 2012.

Airfreight traffic grew 1.8 per cent from a year earlier to 196,823 tonnes and was up 6.6 per cent to 1.79 million tonnes for the first nine months of the year.

“Passenger and cargo traffic growth continue unabated and Dubai International is on track to eclipse our projections for 65.4 million passengers and 2.7 million tonnes of cargo,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

“With the opening of our new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central, and the ongoing expansion at Dubai International, Dubai’s aviation infrastructure continues to make it an attractive destination for tourism, trade and commerce.”

Eastern Europe was the airport’s strongest market in terms of percentage passenger growth at 65.1 per cent, partly due to flydubai’s expansion to multiple destinations in the region.

Passenger traffic with Australia rose 38.6 per cent off the back of Emirates’ continued expansion with Qantas.

The new Dubai World Central airport opened for commercial flights earlier this week.