Airport News

Dubai International Airport (DXB) handled a record 5.8 million passengers in March, according to the monthly traffic report issued by Dubai Airports on Monday.

Passenger traffic in March soared by 20.6% – the highest since August 2012 – to 5.84 million, compared to 4.84 million during the same month a year ago.

It marked the fourth consecutive month of double-digit growth and five million plus passengers.

The strong showing has boosted the year to date traffic to 16.4 million – up 15.6% on the first quarter of 2012.

The largest increase in total passenger number were recorded on the Western European routes – driven mainly by Emirates airline and flydubai services to destinations in the region.

In terms of percentage growth, Eastern Europe was the fastest-expanding market (+67.9%) driven by Emirates airline’s launch of new services to Poland and flydubai’s service to Macedonia, followed by Asia Pacific (26.5%).

Cargo volumes also increased by 14.7% in March to 213,248 tonnes, ensuring that 584,847 tonnes (+13%) of freight have passed through the gateway in the first quarter.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said: “We have had a very successful first quarter highlighted by record growth and the opening of the world’s first purpose built A380 facility.

"I am particularly pleased that we are now not only the world’s second busiest international hub but also one of the most efficient with 208 passengers per aircraft movement thanks to our growing number of A380 operations, which led the world in 2012 with 7,259 A380 flights to 28 destinations.”

He added that traffic looked set to continue its rise in the second quarter adding to the import of Dubai Airports’ ongoing expansion projects at DXB.