Gulf News

DXB adds 110,000 seats in November

Dubai Internatio­nal maintains status as world’s busiest with 4.2m seat capacity

- DUBAI BY DHANUSHA GOKULAN Chief Reporter

Air carriers operating at Dubai Internatio­nal Airport added more than 110,000 scheduled seats to their flights during November, compared to October 2022, a recent aviation report has revealed.

The world’s busiest internatio­nal hub has recorded a three per cent increase, month-on-month, according to a new report from aviation consultanc­y OAG. The Dubai Media Office shared details of DXB’s achievemen­t in a tweet yesterday. DXB served over 4,234,717 seats for internatio­nal travellers in November.

DXB has also retained its spot as the second busiest global airport in the world, measuring domestic and internatio­nal airline capacity, despite total airline seats being down by 9 per cent globally compared to October.

London second busiest

The November study from OAG also retained London Heathrow as the second busiest internatio­nal airport, serving 3.4 million seats for internatio­nal passengers. Both Dubai and London Heathrow were placed first and second, respective­ly, in 2019.

Amsterdam has moved down two places this month to fifth and has had the most significan­t decrease in capacity month on month out of the airports in the top 10, minus 18 per cent to 2.52 million. London’s Gatwick has also dropped out of the top 10 busiest internatio­nal routes, and Incheon Airport has moved into the 10th place.

Out of the top 10 busiest internatio­nal airports in October 2022, eight were in the top 10 in November 2019. The airports which have seen their rankings rise, bringing them into the top ten now, are Doha (from 13th to 8th) and Madrid (from 14th to 10th).

Global airports

Regarding global airports, Atlanta continues to be the world’s busiest airport with 4.7 million seats, a two per cent decrease compared to last month, because of a steady surge in domestic passenger demand in the US. In November 2019, Atlanta was the second biggest airport behind Beijing.

“Dubai and Tokyo Haneda airports remain in second and third places. Dubai has increased capacity between November and October 2022 by three per cent. It is the only airport in the top 10 to have an increase in seats this month,” the monthly report said.

Dubai’s main airport raised its passenger forecast for this year by 1.5 million to 64.3 million after passenger traffic nearly tripled in the third quarter from the same period last year, the CEO of the airport’s operator said last week.

DXB handled nearly 18.5 million passengers in JulySeptem­ber, said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths, up from 6.7 million a year earlier.

Tokyo Haneda’s capacity is unchanged at 3.9 million, and London Heathrow Airport has moved up to be the fourth busiest airport this month, with Dallas Fort Worth moving down one place to fifth.

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