DXB retains international rank

Dubai International saw through over 78 million passengers in 2015

Dubai International Airport retained its position as the world's busiest for international traffic in 2015 and improved its ranking as the world's third busiest for total passenger traffic including domestic, according to data published on Friday by an international trade association representing airports.
Atlanta airport in the US remains the world's busiest passenger airport for another year as the global airport traffic grew at its fastest rate last year since 2010, rising 6.4 per cent to 7.2 billion passengers
More than 101 million passengers passed though Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2015, an increase of 5.5 per cent over 2014, according to Airports Council International's (ACI) 2015 World Airport Traffic Report.
The report credited the Atlanta airport's location as a major connecting hub and port of entry into North America for its continued dominance. Atlanta is within a two-hour flight of 80 per cent of the United States population of more than 300 million people, the report noted.
Following Atlanta as second busiest in the world is Beijing airport, which has long nipped at the heels of the Atlanta airport, which has held the top spot for 18 years. The Chinese capital's airport came in second place again with 89.9 million passengers (a 4.4 per cent increase).
In 2015, worldwide passenger traffic increased to almost 7.2 billion, with increases in all the world's six regions: Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America-Caribbean, Middle East and Africa. ACI's figures and percentages from the annual report are based on data from more than 2,300 airports in 160 countries worldwide.
Worldwide cargo traffic, including mail, rose 2.6 per cent. The world's largest air cargo hub remains Hong Kong, China. The US city of Memphis, Tennessee, took the second spot, followed by Shanghai, China.
While geopolitical unrest, terrorism and physical capacity could become challenges to future growth, "history supports the long-run resiliency of the industry where connecting people, places, cultures and commerce is paramount in the shared mission of the aviation community," said Angela Gittens, director general of ACI World.
Dubai, which was the sixth busiest passenger airport in 2014, jumped into third position in 2015 as total passenger traffic grew by 10.7 per cent. But the airport retained its rank as the world's busiest in terms of international passengers, ahead of London Heathrow.
Dubai International saw through over 78 million passengers in 2015, more than enough to retain its title of the world's busiest airport for international passengers.
Dubai International's closest rival, London's Heathrow, handled 69.8 million international passengers and a total of 74,959,000 passengers including domestic in 2015.
In 2016, Dubai has been recording surge in traffic every month. Passenger movements through Dubai International Airport rose by 14 per cent to hit a record 7.6 million in July, compared to the same month a year earlier.
The July figure is significantly higher than the average monthly growth of seven per cent during the first seven months of the year, Dubai Airports said in a statement.
When it comes to aircraft movements, US airports continue to dominate. Atlanta overtook last year's leader, Chicago, with 882,497 total takeoffs and landings. Chicago had 875,136.
Coming in at third, Dallas-Fort Worth saw 681,247 takeoffs and landings in 2015, followed by Los Angeles with 655,564, and Beijing with 590,169.
"Passenger growth in 2016 could be tempered by the threat of militant attacks, geopolitical unrest and potential bottlenecks for passengers lining up to clear security checks," the Montreal-headquartered ACI said in its report.
"It is important to maintain cautious optimism as we navigate through 2016," ACI World Director General Angela Gittens said in a news release. "There are several impediments that could curtail the continued rise in demand, which could potentially encumber growth prospects over the short and medium terms."
While the highest number of passengers, 2.46 billion, went through the Asia-Pacific region in 2015, up 8.6 percent from a year earlier, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson remained the world's busiest airport, the report said.
Passenger traffic in emerging markets and developing economies soared 8.1 percent in 2015, compared with a 5.2 percent rise in slower-growing mature markets, said ACI, which collects data for over 2,300 airports in 160 countries.
Passenger traffic generated by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa grew 8.2 percent on an annual basis.
Globally, there were 37 large airports with over 40 million passengers, more than double the number in 2005.
"This level of growth is unprecedented, particularly since a majority of the airports in this category are from the typical mature markets of North America and Europe," the release said.
It said North America experienced resurgence in air transport demand, especially at many of its large hubs, following years of consolidation and capacity discipline by U.S. airlines. Large airports are benefiting from capacity shifts where flights are being directed through major connecting hubs.
But the trend toward hubs comes at the expense of smaller regional airports, which are losing out on traffic, Gittens noted.
Air cargo grew more weakly than passenger traffic, rising 2.6 per cent in total volume during 2015, partly because of subdued growth in emerging markets and developing economies.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com