The passenger traffic surged by 20.6 per cent to hit a record 5.84 million (the highest since August 2012) over 4.84 million passengers last year, said the report.

 

This is the fourth consecutive month with more than 5 million passengers and a double-digit growth, the report stated. 

 

The strong showing has boosted the year to date traffic to 16.4 million, up 15.6 per cent compared to 14.2 million recorded during the first three months of 2012.

 

The largest increase in total passenger number was recorded on the Western European routes - driven mainly by Emirates airline and flydubai services to destinations in the region registering the largest increase in total passenger numbers (over 227,830), followed by the AGCC (209,737), and the Indian subcontinent (over 202,703). Growth remained subdued (over 2,532) on South American routes while Middle Eastern routes registered moderate growth (over 36,479).

 

In terms of percentage growth, Eastern Europe was the fastest-expanding market (over 67.9 per cent) driven by Emirates airline’s launch of new services to Poland and flydubai’s service to Macedonia, followed by Asia Pacific (26.5 per cent).

 

According to the report, Dubai International recorded a total of 31,713 aircraft movements in March, up 8.3 per cent compared to 29,276 in March 2012. The year to date movements increased 5.9 per cent to reach 91,130, compared to 86,014 recorded during the first three months in 2012.

 

Cargo volumes also surged in March with Dubai International recording 213,748 tonnes of cargo, an increase of 14.7 per cent compared to 186,417 tonnes in March 2012. 

 

The year to date cargo traffic grew by 13 per cent reaching 584,847 tonnes compared to 517,440 tonnes during the corresponding period in 2012. 

 

Commenting on the growth, CEO Paul Griffiths said, "We have had a very successful first quarter highlighted by record growth and the opening of the world’s first purpose built A380 facility."

 

"I am particularly pleased that we are now not only the world’s second busiest international hub but also one of the most efficient with 208 passengers per aircraft movement thanks to our growing number of A380 operations which led the world in 2012 with 7,259 A380 flights to 28 destinations," he added. 

 

Griffiths said the traffic looked set to continue its upsurge in the second quarter adding to the import of Dubai Airports’ ongoing expansion projects at Dubai International.

 

Dubai Airports owns and manages the operation of both the Dubai International and Dubai World Central airports.-TradeArabia News Service