Dubai Airport records sharp rise in passenger traffic

Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest civil aviation hub, said on Tuesday that it recorded its busiest month in August, United Arab Emirates (UAE) State News Agency, WAM, reported.
Monthly statistics showed that passenger numbers in August totalled 8.23 million compared to 7.23 million passengers in 2016, this represents a 6.6 per cent year-on-year increase.
South America was the fastest expanding market with traffic surging 27.4 per cent, followed by Asia at 21.9 per cent and Eastern Europe at 18.8 per cent.
Moreover, the Dubai International Airport welcomed 59.35 million passengers during the eight and seventh months of the year, a 6.3 per cent increase compared to 55.85 million passengers of 2016.
In terms of passenger volumes, India remained the top destination country with 1,044,730 passengers in August, followed by Britain (611,254 passengers) and Saudi Arabia (610,434 passengers).
London was the top destination city with 377,130 passengers, followed closely by Kuwait City (284,151 passengers) and Mumbai (211,564 passengers).
Meanwhile, freight volumes surged to 221,508 tons in August, up 10.1 per cent from 201,100 tons in 2016.
“We are very pleased with the way things are shaping up this year, not only in terms of growth, which has been robust with passenger numbers exceeding the 8-million mark three times: in January, July and August,’’ said Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of Dubai Airports.
DXB has also succeeded in enhancing the airport experience with initiatives such as the launch of the “world’s fastest free airport Wi-Fi’’ and the implementation of the streaming entertainment service ICFlix, he added.