Dubai International's passenger traffic up 9.9% in September

Passenger traffic in September totalled 5,942,628 compared to 5,407,326 recorded in the corresponding month  last year, an increase of 9.9%. Year to date traffic (Jan-Sept) rose 6.2% to 52,422,547, compared to 49,379,165 recorded during the first nine months of 2013. 

Spurred by an ongoing increase in the number of wide bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 777, particularly in the fleet of home carrier Emirates, the passenger per aircraft movement increased by 4.6% to 201.8 from 192.9 year on year. Aircraft movements totalled 30,871, up marginally by 0.4% compared to the 30,746 recorded during September 2013. Year to date movements totalled 257,981 compared to 273,317, a contraction of 5.6%. The dip in year to date aircraft movements at Dubai International is largely due to the closure of runways for the upgrade and refurbishment between May and July and the shift of all pure cargo flights as well as some general aviation flights to Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC) earlier this year. 

All regions recorded positive growth in September with the exception of Russia and the CIS countries owing to political instability in the region (-5.5%). In terms of percentage* passenger growth, Eastern Europe (+20.3%) was the strongest market followed by North America (19.6 per cent) and South America (15.4%). The Indian subcontinent was the top market in terms of growth in overall passenger numbers (+148,211 passengers) closely followed by Western Europe (111,961 passengers). Asia (+67,784) and the AGCC (57,494) also registered robust growth during the month. 

Freight volumes rose 2.8% in September with 202,415  tonnes passing through the facility compared to 196,823 tonnes recorded during the same month last year. Year-to-date cargo traffic totalled 1,763,283 compared to 1,793,596 tonnes recorded in the first nine months of 2013, down 1.7%, again due to the shift of freighter flights to DWC. 

“The airport’s performance in the first three quarters has been very satisfying and we anticipate brisk growth will continue as we head down the home stretch to year-end,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. “Clearly, more and more people are choosing Dubai as their preferred hub not only for the extensive network of 260 destinations that we connect around the world, but also for the wide array of options we offer our customers for dining, shopping and resting.” 

Analyst Saj Ahmad commented: “Dubai International has clearly rebounded in terms of passenger traffic in September with traffic growth of almost 10%. 

“The runway upgrades have increased the operational efficiency of the airport allowing the likes of Emirates to increase the utilisation of its growing Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300ER fleets.” 

Ahmad added: “As the airport harnesses this extra capacity to cater for demand, Dubai International is well on the way to new traffic records for the this year and is primed to take the top slot from Heathrow in 2015.”