Dubai International Airport (DXB) has retained its title as the world?s No. 1 airport for international passengers after near record numbers in December 2016 propelled the hub?s annual traffic to 83.6mn passengers in 2016, according to the annual traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports
With monthly passenger traffic breaching the seven-million mark six times during the year, including the historic 7.72mn traffic in August, DXB?s annual traffic in 2016 totalled 83,654,250 passengers, compared to 78,014,838 in 2015, a robust growth of 7.2 per cent. The surge of travelers during the holiday season boosted monthly traffic in December to 7,706,351, up 9.3 per cent compared to 7,053,243 recorded in December 2015.
During 2016 a number of new airlines, including Nepal Airlines Corporation and Rossiya launched services to DXB, while 11 new passenger destinations were added to the hub as a result of network expansion by flydubai, Emirates and other international carriers.
DXB also leads the way globally in terms of the average number of passengers per flight which reached 209 during 2016, up four per cent from the same period in 2015. The average number of passengers per flight during December 2016 was 224, up 7.1 per cent compared to 209 recorded in December 2015.
Aircraft movements in 2016 reached 418,220 compared to 406,705* in 2015, up 2.8 percent. Monthly aircraft movements in December 2016 totaled 36,065, up 1.6 per cent compared to 35,491* movements during the same month in 2015, an increase of 5.9 per cent.
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said, ?After emerging as the world?s No. 1 airport for international passengers in 2014, DXB has firmly established itself as the leader in that category. With our new forecast for 89mn passengers in 2017, DXB is closing the gap on Atlanta and Beijing for the top spot in overall traffic. We continue to enable that growth and enhance the passenger experience with top flight infrastructure, streamlined processes and technology. Our focus in 2017 and beyond will be on making the airport experience even more delightful, engaging and comfortable for our customers.
?Our DXB Plus program will see a series of new and unique initiatives and technologies introduced at the airport to make DXB not only the busiest but also the world?s best international airport.?
