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Dubai Int’l marks a record 6.6m passengers in August

Traffic bounces back after major runway project completion

Dubai: Passenger traffic at Dubai International airport bounced back from a three-month slump resulting from a major runway upgrade project, which concluded on July 20, to register a record 6.6 million passengers in August 2014.

“The numbers are far more indicative of the growth trend we expect to see for the remainder of the year and will be crucial in our journey to the top of the list of the world’s busiest international hubs,” Dubai Airports chief executive officer Paul Griffiths said in a statement.

The monthly passenger traffic at the airport reached 6.65 million in August 2014, up 10.8 per cent compared to 5.99 million recorded in the corresponding month in 2013.

“It’s good to return to more robust growth figures resulting from full capacity and ongoing network expansion after being constrained to a one-runway operation for nearly three months,” Griffiths said.

Dubai International’s return to form with a nearly 11 per cent year-on-year rise in traffic for the month of August shows that demand remains as high as ever for travel to and through the airport, according to a senior aviation analyst.

“Its an impressive result …. but the reality is that Dubai International is still growing and has a lot more to prove as it heads towards to the top of the airport charts,” Chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research Saj Ahmad said an emailed statement.

The hub returned to full operational capacity in August following a runway upgrade project that reduced the airport to a single runway for 80 days and cut capacity by 26 per cent.

The year-to-date passenger traffic as at the end of August totalled 46.48 million an increase of 5.7 per cent compared to the 43.97 million passengers recorded during the first eight months of 2013.

The traditionally strong Subcontinent topped the list of regions with the largest growth in passenger numbers, followed by Western Europe, Asia, the AGCC and Africa. The top regions in terms of percentage growth in traffic included North America (28.9 per cent), and Asia (19.2 per cent).

Aircraft movements during August totalled 31,214 movements, a marginal increase of 0.1 per cent from the 31,198 recorded during the corresponding month in 2013.

During the first eight months of the year aircraft movements totalled 227,110, down 6.4 per cent from 242,571 movements recorded between January and August last year, reflecting the impact of the runway closure period. Average passengers per movement during August increased to 219.7, up 5.2 per cent from 208.9 recorded during the same month last year, reflecting a move by airlines to larger aircraft.

Monthly cargo volume also rebounded by 4.3 per cent, reaching 192,902 tonnes in August compared to 184,877 tonnes during the same month in 2013. Year-to-date cargo reached 1.56 million tonnes during the first eight months of the year, down 2.2 per cent from 1.59 million tonnes recorded during the same period in 2013.

“It’s good to return to more robust growth figures resulting from full capacity and ongoing network expansion after being constrained to a one-runway operation for nearly three months. The numbers are far more indicative of the growth trend we expect to see for the remainder of the year and will be crucial in our journey to the top of the list of the world’s busiest international hubs,” Dubai Airports chief executive officer Paul Griffiths said in a statement.