Dubai International began the second half on a strong note by crossing the five million passenger mark in July for the first time in its history, said the airport operator in its monthly traffic report.

The previous high for monthly traffic at Dubai International was 4.85 million passengers recorded this January, according to the report issued by Dubai Airports on Wednesday.

Dubai International handled a total of 5,006,155 passengers in July compared to 4,724,109 in the same period last year, a year on year increase of 6 per cent, the report stated.

The year-to-date traffic reached 32,937,794 up 12.4 per cent over the 29,291,927 recorded in the corresponding period last year, it added.

The largest regional traffic growth in July in terms of total passenger numbers was recorded on routes to and from Western Europe (over 106,926), Africa (over 41,990), the Indian subcontinent (over 41,706), and Asia (over 40,840), said the operator.

The regions with the highest percentage growth included South America (82.6 per cent), Russia and CIS (38.6 per cent), and Australasia (16.4 per cent), said the monthly report from Dubai Airports.

However, the impact of traffic fluctuations during Ramadan were felt on traffic from the AGCC region which rose 0.1 per cent) and Middle Eastern routes which fell 9.2 per cent.

During July, Dubai International handled aircraft movements totalling 27,829, up 2.4 per cent from 27,166 recorded during July 2011. The year-to-date (July) aircraft movements stood at 198,078 up 6.2 per cent from 186,538 posted during the corresponding period in 2011.

In terms of cargo volumes Dubai International surged 6.2 per cent in July to hit 204,510 T of air freight compared to 192,538 T recorded the year before.

The year-to-date (July) freight volume too rose 2.8 per cent to reach 1,290,966 T compared to last year's 1,255,262 T.

Commenting on the growth, Paul Griffiths, the CEO of Dubai Airports said, 'This is yet another record for Dubai International and one that we had anticipated based on the growth trends in the first half.'

'Since 2009 average monthly traffic at Dubai International has skyrocketed from just under 3.5 million in 2009 to over 4.7 million in 2012. This clearly signals our emergence as a leading global hub,” he pointed out.

“July’s traffic volumes mean that an average of 112 passengers passed through our airport every minute of every day,” remarked Griffiths.

“By 2018, when we expect to complete the expansion of Dubai International, that will soar to just under 170 passengers per minute. That is why we are investing $7.8 billion in the future of this airport. In turn that investment will drive an increase in aviation’s contributions to Dubai’s GDP from the current $22 billion to 45.4 billion in 2020,” he added.

Dubai International doubled its annual capacity to 60 million passengers with the opening of Terminal 3 in 2008. Just four years later the airport is once again nearing capacity with 56.5 million passengers projected to pass through the facility in 2012, said Griffiths.

Dubai Airports’ Strategic Plan 2020 will boost airport capacity to 90 million by 2018. The next milestone is Concourse 3, the world’s first purpose-built A380 facility, which will boost capacity to 75 million passengers.

It will open once it has successfully completed all operational readiness tests which is anticipated to occur during the first quarter of 2013, he added.-TradeArabia News Service