Passenger traffic at Dubai International airport up 7.4% in Q1

Passenger traffic at Dubai International (DXB), the world’s top airport for international passenger numbers, rose by 7.4 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, operator Dubai Airports said on Tuesday.

About 22.5 million passengers used the airport, up from about 21 million, it said. Dubai Airports forecasts a total of 89 million passengers in 2017.

The impact of travel bans and restrictions on electronic devices was reflected in traffic figures for North America, which fell by 4.3 per cent in March.

However, year to date traffic to and from North America is up by 2.5 per cent.

Dubai-based Emirates, the largest international airline by passenger traffic, said last week it was cutting flights on five US routes following a decline in demand caused by President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions.

Eastern Europe was the fastest expanding market in the first three months of 2017, followed by Asia and South America, Dubai Airports said.

London was the top destination city with almost one million passengers, while India remained the country registering the highest number of passengers at more than three million.

Freight volumes passing through Dubai International rose by 3.5 per cent.