Dubai’s DXB records 27.9 million passengers in first six months of the year

Dubai International (DXB) has recorded 27,884,888 million passengers in the first half of the year, just 1.2 million shy of the airport’s total annual traffic last year.

The passenger numbers recorded in H1 this year were up 161.9 per cent compared to a year-earlier period. The traffic volume represents 67.5 per cent of DXB’s pre-pandemic passenger traffic during the same period in 2019.

The numbers were recorded despite a significant reduction in capacity resulting from the 45-day closure of its northern runway in May-June for a major refurbishment project, the company said. The northern runaway was closed from May 9 until June 22, 2022, to carry out a complete refurbishment.

Read: Dubai Airports to close DXB’s northern runway for 45 days

DXB recorded 14.2 million passengers in the second quarter of 2022, a year-on-year jump of 190.6 per cent, thus maintaining its growth recovery for the ninth successive quarter since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

India remained DXB’s top destination country by passenger numbers with traffic for H1 reaching 4 million passengers. Saudi Arabia was second on the list with 2 million passengers, followed by the UK with 1.9 million passengers. Other country destinations of note include Pakistan (1.7 million passengers), and the US (1.4 million passengers).

The top three cities were London with 1.3 million passengers, Riyadh (910,000 passengers), and Mumbai (726,000 passengers).

A steady surge of growth throughout the second quarter has propelled Dubai International’s (@DXB) half yearly traffic to 27.9 million passengers, just 1.2 million shy of the airport’s total annual traffic in 2021. pic.twitter.com/YyUQvvhH0b

— Dubai Airports (@DubaiAirports) August 17, 2022

Meanwhile, DXB handled 390,520 tonnes of cargo in the second quarter, bringing the total freight volume for the first six months of 2022 to 910,075 tonnes, a contraction of 18.9 per cent. DXB’s cargo traffic was impacted during the second quarter by the moving of major freight operators back to Dubai World Central (DWC) in March.

However, during the first six months of 2022, DXB handled a total of 154,993 flight movements, up 55.9 per cent compared to the first half of 2021. The figure represents 87 per cent of the pre-pandemic flight movements at DXB during the first half of 2019.

“DXB’s recovery from the impact of the global pandemic has been spectacular, and that position has been strengthened during 2022, particularly during the second quarter,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. “We worked with our service partners across the airport community to be ready and prepared to deliver the consistently smooth and easy experience that our passengers have come to expect at DXB.”

Smart Gates at DXB are now speeding customers through the immigration process, while the advanced operations control centre uses real-time information to improve service and efficiency across all touchpoints, a statement said. During the first half, 96 per cent of passengers queued for less than five minutes at departure passport control, whilst the average queue times at security check on departures was less than 3 minutes for 97 per cent of total passengers. (based on average queuing times (weighted by the total number of passengers processed) captured by Dubai Airports’ real-time monitoring system).

The baggage handling system at DXB processed a total of 27.1 million bags in the first half of 2022 with a success rate of 99.8 per cent (mishandled baggage rate of 1.75 bags per 1,000 passengers), an impressive performance for the world’s busiest international hub. Based on first half figures and projection of a stronger second half with average monthly traffic expected to reach 5.6 million passengers, Dubai Airports’ readjusted annual forecast for 2022 stands at 62.4 million passengers, the statement added.