The passenger traffic at Dubai International, the world’s second busiest airport for international passengers, rose 13.1 per cent to 5.4 million in September compared to 4.78 million during the same period last year, according to the latest traffic statistics by operator Dubai Airports.

The year-to-date traffic surged 16 per cent to 49.3 million compared to 42.5 million recorded during the first nine months of 2012, the report stated.

The aircraft movements totalled 30,746 during September, an increase of 10.2 per cent from the 27,909 recorded during the same period last year. Passengers per aircraft movement in September came in at 193, it added.

All regions recorded positive growth in September with the exception of South America (-6.9 per cent), said the Dubai Airports statistics. 

Among the strongest markets in terms of percentage passenger growth were Eastern Europe (over 65.1 per cent), driven by flydubai expansion to multiple destinations in the region and Emirates’ new service to Warsaw.

The passenger traffic to and from Australasia rose 38.6 per cent as a result of Emirates' expansion and Qantas’ new operation connecting Australia and London through Dubai. On a country level, Australia (over 41.7 per cent), France (over 23.7 per cent), Saudi Arabia (over 22.4 per cent), Thailand (over 21.8 per cent) and the UK (over 21.7 per cent) saw the largest increases.
 
In terms of overall passenger numbers, Western Europe traffic took over as the top market thanks to robust growth (over 14.8 per cent) during the month. AGCC came in second thanks to 15 per cent year-on-year passenger traffic growth, said the report.

The Indian subcontinent, which took third spot, continued to show positive growth (over 9.8 per cent) due to the expansion of several Indian carriers including Indigo, Spice Jet and Air India Express, it added.
 
On the cargo sector growth, Dubai Airport report said the air freight volumes rose 1.8 per cent with volumes of 196,823 tonnes compared to 193,261 recorded during the same period last year. The year-to-date cargo traffic totalled 1.78 million tonnes, up 6.6 per cent from the 1.67 million tonnes shipped during the same period last year.
 
“Passenger and cargo traffic growth continue unabated and Dubai International is on track to eclipse our projections for 65.4 million passengers and 2.7 million tonnes of cargo,” remarked Paul Griffiths, the CEO of Dubai Airports.

“With the opening of our new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central, and the ongoing expansion at Dubai International, Dubai’s aviation infrastructure continues to make it an attractive destination for tourism, trade and commerce,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service