Dubai international’s passenger traffic surges by 19%

Dubai International’s monthly passenger traffic surpassed the 4.5 million mark according to the monthly traffic report for February issued by Dubai Airports.

Passenger traffic surged 19% in February – a 16 month high – to reach 4,561,147 passengers compared to 3,831,385 recorded in the same month in 2011. This follows the airport’s record traffic of over 4.8 million passengers in January, driving February passenger traffic by 16.4% to 9,413,286.

The AGCC continued to top the list of regions with the largest increase in total passenger numbers in February (+150,643 passengers), followed by the Indian subcontinent (+140,322), Western Europe (+136,320), and Africa (+110,561 passengers). The downward trend on Middle Eastern routes continued in February (-23,804 passengers) because of the instability in the region.

In terms of percentage passenger growth, South America has remained the strongest market (+151.4%) owing to Emirates new routes to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, followed by Russia and CIS (+41.7%) mainly due to the expansion of flydubai operations. The launch of Emirates flights to the African destinations of Lusaka and Harare in February has driven Africa up (35.9%), closely followed by Australasia (+29%) and Eastern Europe (+28%).

Dubai International recorded a total of 27,058 aircraft movements during the month under review, up 9.8% compared to 24,646 last February. The year to date movements stood at 56,738, up 9% compared to 50,031 recorded during the first two months in 2011.

The extra day in February 2012, on account of the leap year, also contributed to Dubai International’s overall performance.

The airport currently has an annual capacity of 60 million passengers, increasing to 75 million passengers by next year with the opening of Concourse 3, the world’s first A380 facility dedicated for use by Emirates Airline. Dubai International is the fourth-busiest airport worldwide for international passenger and cargo traffic