Dubai Airports maintained its growth trajectory in the second half of 2014 with passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport rising 4.3 per cent in November.

Passenger traffic in November totalled 5,565,509, compared to 5,337,544 passengers recorded in the same month last year. Year-to-date traffic rose 5.9 per cent to 63,977,063 compared to 60,384,407 passengers recorded during the first 11 months of 2013.

Aircraft movements climbed 10 per cent in November to 34,690 movements, up from the 31,525 movements recorded last year. Year to date aircraft movements declined 3.5 per cent to 325,469 movements, down from the 337,121 movements achieved in the first 11 months of 2013. The drop in aircraft movements so far this year has been driven by capacity cuts made during the runway refurbishment programme earlier this year. 

Regionally, Eastern Europe was the fastest growing region, with passenger traffic rising 54.1 per cent year on year in November, spurred on by strong growth from Budapest (Hungary), Prague (Czech Republic) and Warsaw (Poland). South America (+15 per cent) and Asia (+13.8 per cent) also showed good growth during November.

However, continued geopolitical and economic woes in Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) resulted in an 18.2 per cent drop in passenger traffic during November when compared to the same month in 2013.

India maintained its position as the busiest country destination in November, supported by double- digit growth in passenger numbers to both New Delhi (+15.1 per cent) and Mumbai (+16.2 per cent), with flydubai and Jet Airways adding new flights to the cities during 2014.

Cargo volumes slipped 8 per cent in November to 205,375 tonnes, down from the 223,195 tonnes recorded in the same month last year. Year-to date cargo volumes dipped 2.7 per cent to 2,164,738 tonnes, down from the 2,225,486 tonnes achieved during the same period last year. Freight volumes at Dubai International continued to be impacted in the second half of 2014 by the move of all dedicated freighter services to Al Maktoum International Airport in May this year.

“Given the traffic achieved in the first 11 months, together with some of the busiest days on record in December, we are confident of ending the year above the 70 million mark and confirming our position as the world’s busiest international airport,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

“Looking forward to 2015, the prospects remain exceedingly bright and we expect to maintain the growth achieved this year in the next 12 months. Therefore Dubai Airports continues to invest in world-class facilities to meet this demand, including the opening of the new Concourse D in the first half of next year,” Griffiths said. – TradeArabia News Service