(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Dubai International is on track to achieve 89 million passenger traffic target this year as it welcomed 6.9 million passengers in October, shows latest data.
According to the monthly traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports on Monday, passenger traffic at Dubai International reached 6,865,296 in October compared to 6,420,208 recorded in the corresponding month last year, reflecting an increase of 6.9 per cent. Year-to-date, passenger numbers have risen 5.9 per cent to 73.43 million compared to 69.36 million recorded during the same period last year.
"The third quarter has begun on a very positive note for DXB and with the hub on track to achieve our forecast of 89 million passengers for the year, our focus will be on continuing to maintain customer service quality and overall airport experience," Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said.
During the month under review, London was the top destination city out of Dubai with 327,400 passengers followed by Mumbai (219,512 passengers) and New Delhi (184,754 passengers).
India remained the top destination country (1,009,005 passengers), followed by the UK (525,896 passengers) and Saudi Arabia (407,262 passengers).
Saj Ahmad, an analyst at London's StrategicAero Research, said Dubai International's continued rise in monthly traffic comes as little surprise. With over 73.4 million passengers handled to date, the airport is almost certain to set new records again in 2017.
"While airplane movements was lower, average passenger count per departure was actually higher by almost 12 per cent, signalling more use of A380s by dominant operator Emirates as well as fuller cabins on its 777-300ERs, which is in tandem with its financial turnaround announced in earlier in November," he said.
South America was the top region among markets with the highest growth rate in October (+39.9%) followed by Eastern Europe (23.5%) mainly driven by Russia and Croatia, and Asia (20.3 %) propelled by the growth on routes to China and Thailand.
"Europe in particular leads the way for traffic out of Dubai and its evident that the likes of Emirates is keen to continue its expansion here - especially in the wake of the Air Berlin collapse, which has partly led Emirates to deploy all A380s on its Frankfurt services from 2018," Ahmad said.
Flight movements in October totalled 33,257 compared to 35,314 flights operated at Dubai International during the same month last year, a contraction of 5.8%. Year-to-date flight movements totalled 340,940, down 2.3% compared to 348,893 recorded during the first ten months of 2016.
Dubai International handled freight totalling 231,805 tonnes compared to 236,169 tonnes during October 2016, down 1.8 per cent. Year-to-date cargo volumes as at the end of October reached 2,189,824, a growth of 2.9 per cent compared to 2,127,589 tonnes recorded during the same period last year. -
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