The Dubai International Airport (DXB) has raised its annual passenger traffic forecast for this year by an additional two million to reach 28.7 million, as travel restrictions in key markets start to ease.
In the last four weeks, passenger traffic at DXB has grown by almost 20 percent to reach 20.7 million in the year to date to October. This is the result of the changes in travel restrictions in key global markets in recent months.
The world’s busiest international airport is expecting this surge towards the recovery of the industry to continue during the final quarter of 2021 as the combined impact of the relaxation of global restrictions on travel, the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai, the forthcoming Dubai Airshow 2021 and the annual rush of travelers.
Paul Griffiths CEO – Dubai Airports
“Our performance to date has led the global recovery in all aspects of aviation activity and the growing ability of countries around the world to manage the global pandemic is allowing travel restrictions to be lifted. This has given travelers both the confidence and freedom to plan long-awaited journeys with ease. Significant market developments such as the UK’s vaccination-based travel program, the resumption of flights to several important destinations in Australasia and the relaxation of restrictions for travel between India and the USA have all contributed to an upward revision in our forecast for the year by an additional 2 million passengers to 28.7 million.”
In the third quarter (Q3), DXB’s passenger volumes totaled 6.7 million. DXB is currently serving 83 percent of the destinations in 99 percent of the countries on 108 percent of the airlines compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flight movements in Q3 surged to 56,266 at DXB, propelling the number of flight movements recorded between January and September to 155,706, up 17.1 percent.
In Q3, DXB recorded 581,972 tonnes of freight, bringing the total volume for the first nine months of 2021 to 1.7 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 25.3 percent.
South Asia retained its rank as Dubai International Airport’s largest contributor of traffic led by India and Pakistan. Egypt was ranked third with 753,000 passengers, followed closely by the US and Turkey. The top three cities by traffic were Cairo, Istanbul and Addis Ababa.
