World’s busiest airport exceeds estimated annual passenger traffic of 64.3 million
Dubai International Airport (DXB) more than doubled its annual passenger traffic last year, exceeding its own forecast and retaining the title of the world’s busiest international hub for the ninth consecutive year.
The airport handled 66.1 million passengers in 2022, growing 127 per cent year-on-year and exceeding its forecast of 64.3 million, on the back of a strong fourth quarter, operator Dubai Airports said on Tuesday.
“We knew it was the year when growth would return to the air travel sector in a big way but the surge was much stronger than anticipated and we had to do our best to turn that challenge into an opportunity,” said Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports.
“We were ready to meet the challenge of rapid recovery in customer numbers while delivering significant improvement in our service quality across the board.”
Passenger traffic in the last three months of 2022 jumped 67 per cent year-on-year to 19.7 million, marking the airport’s busiest quarter since 2019, according to the state-owned operator.
December was the busiest month of the year with 7.1 million passengers, the first time since January 2020 that Dubai International Airport’s monthly traffic hit the 7 million mark.
Dubai Airports is projecting the number of passengers who will pass through the international hub by the end of this year to reach 78 million, as the UAE prepares to host major international events such as the Dubai Airshow and Cop28, Mr Griffiths said.
“Given its dynamism and global impact, there is never a dull year for the aviation sector and 2023 will be no exception it will be another year of new challenges and opportunities and we are ready for them,” he said.
The global aviation industry is enjoying a robust comeback since most countries lifted their Covid-19 restrictions and people resumed travel for business and leisure.
Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, based at DXB, reported a record profit in the first half of its financial year.
The airline expects travel demand to remain strong in the second half of its fiscal year as it focuses on restoring operations to pre-pandemic levels and growing its workforce.
India retained its position as the top destination country for DXB last year by passenger volume, with 9.8 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia with 4.9 million and the UK with 4.6 million.
Destinations such as the US with three million passengers and Russia with 1.9 million exceeded the passenger volumes recorded in 2019, Dubai Airports said.
DXB’s top destination cities last year were London with three million passengers, Riyadh with two million and Mumbai with 1.9 million.
Air cargo volumes at DXB declined in 2022, in line with a cooling in the global freight market from the peaks recorded during the pandemic.
DXB handled 1.7 million tonnes of cargo last year, a drop of 25.5 per cent from 2021, due the major freight operators moving back to Dubai World Central (DWC) and reduced capacity, as planes that were converted to freighters during the pandemic return to passenger services.
Cargo volumes also contracted in the fourth quarter to 420,125 tonnes, down 31.7 per cent from the same period in 2021, Dubai Airports said.