Dubai International Airport braces for 58.3m passengers

India remains top destination country, while London leads top cities

The Dubai International Airport has raised its fullyear 2022 passenger number forecasts to 58.3 million after a sharp increase in traffic in recent weeks. The earlier 2022 estimates were for 55.1 million passengers.

“DXB’s performance over the past successive quarters is nothing short of impressive and is a direct outcome of Dubai’s clear strategy and efforts to restore international air connectivity and mobility and lead the global aviation industry out of an unprecedented crisis,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

Key destinations

India held its longstanding position as DXB’s top destination country with passenger traffic reaching 1.6 million, followed by Saudi Arabia (1.1 million), Pakistan (997,000) and the UK (934,000). The top three cities in terms of passenger numbers were London (617,000 passengers), Riyadh (517,000), Jeddah (337,000), and followed closely by Istanbul (324,000 passengers).

DXB recorded the busiest quarter since 2020 with 13.6 million passengers in the first three months of this year, indicating that travel recovery is gaining further momentum at the global hub.

Bolstered by 5.5 million in passenger traffic in March, DXB’s passenger volumes rose to 13.6 million in Q1-2022, up 15.7 per cent from the final quarter of 2021. By comparison, DXB recorded 5.7 million passengers in the first quarter of 2021.

DXB is currently connected to 193 destinations across 92 countries via 73 scheduled international carriers. “While the recovery was initially led by point-to-point traffic, the opening of international travel across many key markets has enabled transfer traffic to rebound to 60 per cent of 2019 levels,” said Griffiths.