Dubai Airport on track to become world’s busiest
Dubai, June 9, 2014
Dubai International Airport will become the world's busiest airport next year and maintain that position owing to upgrades, said a report.
The upgrade work will see the Dubai airport slip behind London’s Heathrow Airport this year, but will ensure that the emirate has the infrastructure and capacity required to become the largest international airport, said the Emirates 24/7 report.
The airport became the world’s busiest during the first quarter of the year, led by strong growth of local carriers Emirates and flydubai. However, the passenger traffic will drop as the airlines have curtailed their flights due to the closure of two runways for the 80-day maintenance, which commenced recently.
The number of passengers passing through Heathrow Airport reached 72.3 million last year, while Dubai International handled 66.4 million passengers. In the first three months of this year, Dubai Airport handled 18.3 million passengers, while Heathrow handled a total of 16 million, said the report.
A number of airlines have moved their operations temporarily to other airports due to the runways maintenance and will resume operations from the Dubai airport upon the completion of the refurbishment and upgrading.
The works have cut the airport’s capacity by more than 20 per cent, it said.
“With Dubai Airports investing more than $7.5 billion (Dh27.5 billion) in enhancements to existing terminals and the construction of new ones, as well as continued growth by the home carrier and the addition of new airlines, Dubai Airport's growth will quickly leave behind the traditional international hubs," said the report.
Dubai is, however, still on track to handle more than 70 million passengers in 2014.
