UAE’s Air Traffic Slows Down In July

Air traffic movements in the UAE declined marginally by 0.6 per cent in the month of July compared to the same period last year, according to the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

The lull in traffic was mainly due to the upgrade work of two runways at Dubai International Airport that lasted for 80 days, the UAE’s aviation authority said.

Despite the runway work, Dubai had the highest number of air traffic movements at 24654 in July. Over flights accounted for the second highest amount of movements at 11,747 while Abu Dhabi recorded 11,818 movements.

Air traffic movements in Sharjah international Airport amounted to 6,253 while Ras Al Khaimah International Airport saw 214 movements. Airports in Fujairah and Al Ain saw 113 and 78 air movements respectively.

Meanwhile, the newly opened Al Maktoum International airport saw 3,108 air movements in total, GCAA noted.

Overall, the UAE registered around 459389 air traffic movements since the beginning of the year, up 2.3 per cent compared to the same period last year, GCAA said.

“This is a clear indication of the increasing demand for aviation services and increased number of passengers from and to UAE,” said Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, GCAA director general.

“We expect this growth to surge higher over the coming months.”

The Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) said last year that combined aircraft movement in Dubai International Airport and the Dubai World Central (DWC) will rise 77 per cent from 375,000 in 2013 to 665,000 in 2020.

DCAA aims to see passenger aircraft movement reaching 385,000 and 416,650 in 2014 and 2015 respectively. The target for cargo aircraft movement has been fixed at 31,500 this year and 35,000 in 2015.