Dubai International Airport has begun 2012 on a strong note with record monthly passenger traffic of over 4.85 million in January.
Passenger traffic in January reached 4.852 million passengers, surpassing the previous record of 4,724,109 of July 2011, and a 14% increase compared to 4.254 million recorded in January 2011.
The 14% upsurge is the largest month-on-month increase in 14 months. This performance brings Dubai Airport’s rolling 12-month passenger numbers to 51.57 million and builds on the historic 50.98 million passengers recorded in 2011.
Spurred by the launch of Emirates airline’s new routes to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, South America was the strongest market in terms of percentage passenger growth in January (+71.4%), followed by Russia and CIS (+57.3%) driven by the expansion of Dubai’s low cost carrier flydubai in the region, and the AGCC (+36.9%) as a result of growth in Saudi Arabian traffic. Eastern Europe (20.6%) and Australasia (16.7%) also achieved high growth rates.
Total aircraft movements for Dubai International Airport rose 8.4% to 29,680 compared to 27,385 last January.
Cargo volumes contracted 2.6% to 173,531 tonnes compared to 178,199 tonnes in January last year reflecting on-going weaker global airfreight demand and fragile consumer confidence.
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports said..
“It is fitting that we started a record-breaking year with record monthly passenger numbers. Our projections indicate 2012 traffic totals will reach 56.5 million, obliterating last year’s record of 51 million. The fantastic start to the year is partially due to the traffic surge caused by the holiday season, the recently concluded Dubai Shopping Festival and the on-going expansion of the hub network.”
Dubai International Airport is currently the 4th-busiest airport worldwide for international passenger and cargo traffic. The opening of Dubai Airport Concourse 3, the A380 facility dedicated for use by Emirates Airline, next year will take Dubai Airport’s capacity from 60 million to 75 million.