DXB traffic exceeds 7 million in October

dubai — With seven million passengers in October, Dubai International (DXB) started the final quarter of the year on a positive note and is poised to meet its target of hitting 90-million passenger milestone in 2018.

While there was a moderate growth in October of 2.1 per cent year on year, with the hub’s year to date traffic reach 74.5 million passengers, analysts predict the last two months would witness increased flow.

Industry analysts said increased passenger traffic from the CIS states and Eastern Europe would continue to drive the growth to put DXB on track to surpass 88.2 million passenger numbers of 2017.

In 2017, DXB was ranked the world’s third largest airport in terms of passenger traffic after Atlanta International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport. But Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Los Angeles International Airport were catching up fast, recording 85.4 million and 84.55 million passenger traffic in 2017, respectively.

In October, while the airport severed 7,007,823 customers, taking DXB’s year to date numbers up by 1.5 per cent, baggage volumes surged four per cent to 5.7 million bags during October. In October 237,499 tonnes of airfreight was handled at DXB, up 2.5 per cent, bringing the total cargo tonnage for the year to 2,169,991, Dubai Airports, the airport’s operator said.

Saj Ahmad, an analyst at London’s StrategicAero Research, said Dubai International’s continued growth puts it on track for another record year and maintain its status as the world’s busiest international airport.

“With traffic year to date around 2.5 per cent higher than last year at over 74.5 million passengers, the airport will likely see further traffic gains during November and December, coinciding with the holiday and festive Christmas period,” Ahmad told Khaleej Times on Monday.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com