Dubai International Airport (DXB) witnessed an impressive surge in passenger traffic, recording over 44.9 million individuals during the initial six months of 2024.
This marked an 8% increase from the corresponding period in the previous year, despite facing significant challenges due to record rainfall in mid-April. This period was characterized by 1,244 flight cancellations and 61 re-routings over a span of two days.
Between April and June, the airport served 21.8 million passengers, marking a 7.5% rise from the second quarter of 2023. This growth was accompanied by a total of 107,000 aircraft movements. The airport, which is home to Emirates and flydubai, experienced a notable boost from the Chinese market, with over 1 million passengers, indicating an 80% increase from the previous year and a 90% recovery compared to the figures from 2019.
Paul Griffiths, the CEO of Dubai Airports, emphasized that the disruptions in April would not have a lasting impact on the airport’s long-term passenger figures. “We have a daily average of 250,000 passengers traversing our airport. Over the course of the year, this number will not significantly alter.”
Despite facing regional geopolitical tensions leading to temporary flight cancellations to Tel Aviv and Iran, Dubai International Airport remains on course to achieve a record 91.8 million passengers for the year. Griffiths highlighted the strong demand from key markets such as India and the resurgence of the Chinese market as pivotal factors in this achievement.
“The first half of 2024 underscores the strategic significance of Dubai International Airport as a global aviation hub,” stated Griffiths. “Dubai is at the forefront of global cities in attracting talent, businesses, and tourists. We are proud to contribute to growth and enhance the airport experience for every guest.”
During the first half of the year, Dubai International Airport recorded 216,000 flight movements, marking a 7.2% increase from the previous year. January stood out as the busiest month, with 7.9 million visitors. The average number of passengers per aircraft movement stood at 213, with a load factor of 77%. Direct traffic accounted for 56% of the total traffic, while transfer traffic constituted 44%.
In preparation for the growing demand, Dubai International Airport has announced several new developments, including the introduction of color-coded car parks for enhanced navigation, an advanced queue management system, and improvements to the VIP check-in area. These enhancements are set to be followed by Dubai’s planned $35 billion passenger terminal at Dubai World Central (DWC), which is scheduled to accommodate 150 million passengers annually. This ambitious project aims to expand the terminal’s capacity to 260 million passengers and 12 million tons of cargo.
Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism reported that the emirate welcomed 9.31 million international visitors during the first half of 2024, a figure that closely mirrored the 3.2% growth in Dubai’s GDP, which reached Dh115 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
