The Dubai International Airport has witnessed a 7.3 per cent surge in passenger traffic in October which hit 4.3 million compared to 4 million recorded during the same month last year.

Through the first ten months of the year the passenger numbers totalled 41.8 million, registering an increase of 7.7 per cent over the corresponding period in 2010, according to the latest traffic statistics released today by Dubai Airports.

The AGCC recorded the largest increase in total passenger numbers in October (over 154,893), followed by the Indian subcontinent (over 79,657) and Western Europe (over 40,469), it added.

According to the report, the economic uncertainty and flagging consumer confidence in Europe and the US did little to curtail the continued growth in passenger numbers at

The passenger traffic to and from Russia and the CIS rose to more than 34,017 due to flydubai’s expansion into that region while North American passenger increases (over 17,963) were driven by increased frequency, capacity and demand on Emirates flights to Los Angeles, Houston and New York.

The report pointed out that the contraction in traffic on Middle Eastern routes continued in October (-25,141 passengers) due to ongoing political unrest in some markets.
 
The strongest markets in terms of percentage passenger growth were Russia & CIS (over 33.9 per cent), the AGCC ( over 29..9 per cent) as a result of Saudi Arabian traffic growth, North America (over 16.1 per cent) and South America (over 15.4 per cent).

The aircraft movements for October reached 28,463 up 7.2 per cent from 26,558 recorded during the same month in 2010.

Although passenger numbers showed no ill-effects, global economic conditions continue to put a drag on air freight traffic growth, the report added.

In the cargo sector, Dubai International handled 197,841 tonnes of freight in October, a contraction of 2.5 per cent compared to 202,984 tonnes recorded during the same period in 2010.

The year to date freight volumes too posted a 1.8 per cent decline hitting 1,808,239 tonnes compared to 1,841,422 tonnes handled during the corresponding period last year.

Commenting on the passenger growth, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said, "New routes, additional frequencies and extra capacity continue to drive passenger traffic growth at the Dubai hub."

“And we continue to break records. In October, Dubai International achieved yet another milestone by passing the 50 million passenger mark over a 12 month period for the first time,” he added.

Dubai International is the fourth busiest airport worldwide for international passenger and cargo traffic.-TradeArabia News Service