Dubai International Airport witnessed a 9.9 per cent surge in passenger traffic in September, according to the latest traffic report issued by its operator Dubai Airports.

The figures in September totalled 5,942,628 compared to 5,407,326 recorded in the corresponding month last year. Year-to-date traffic (January-September) rose 6.2 per cent 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 to 201.8 from 192.9 year-on-year, up 4.6 per cent.

Year-to-date movements totalled 257,981 compared to 273,317, a contraction of 5.6 per cent. 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 Airport 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 per cent). In terms of percentage passenger growth, Eastern Europe (+20.3 per cent) was the strongest market followed by North America (19.6 per cent) and South America (15.4 per cent). 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 GCC (57,494) also registered robust growth during the month.

Freight volumes rose 2.8 per cent 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 9 months of 2013, down 1.7 per cent, 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.”

Moreover, Dubai International Airport was named ‘Sleeping in Airports’ best airport in the Middle East for the second year running. – TradeArabia News Service