Dubai International Airport raises 2022 passenger traffic forecast to 58.3 million

The world's busiest hub records its busiest quarter since 2020 as transit traffic rebounds

Dubai International Airport handled 13.6 million passengers in the first three months of 2022. Photo: Dubai Airports

Dubai International Airport has raised its annual passenger traffic forecast for 2022 to 58.3 million, from an earlier projection of 57 million.

The world’s busiest international airport recorded its busiest quarter since 2020 in the first three months of this year.

Passenger traffic more than doubled during the reporting period to 13.6 million travellers, from 5.7 million in the same quarter a year ago, state-owned operator Dubai Airports said on Thursday.

The recovery recorded over the past consecutive quarters was initially led by point-to-point traffic, which continues to exceed pre-coronavirus levels, said Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports.

However, the opening of borders in many key markets resulted in transfer traffic rebounding to 60 per cent of 2019 levels, he said.

The airport's performance is a “direct outcome of Dubai's clear strategy and efforts to restore international air connectivity and mobility, and lead the global aviation industry out of an unprecedented crisis”, Mr Griffiths said.

Dubai International Airport currently serves 193 destinations across 92 countries through 73 scheduled international airlines.

The emirate hosted about four million visitors in the first quarter of this year, a more than fourfold increase from the same period last year, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, said on Tuesday.

The emirate was also ranked first in the world in terms of hotel occupancy rates, with hospitality establishments 82 per cent full on average in the first three months of 2022, he said.

Flight movements at Dubai International Airport during the first quarter increased by 5.8 per cent a year to 81,966, the airport operator said.

India held its long-standing position as the airport’s top destination country, with passenger traffic reaching 1.6 million, followed by Saudi Arabia (1.1 million), Pakistan (997,000) and the UK (934,000).

The top three cities in terms of passenger numbers were London (617,000 passengers), Riyadh (517,000) and Jeddah (337,000).

The airport handled a total of 519,555 tonnes of cargo during the first three months of 2022, down from 550,811 tonnes in the same period a year ago.

Dubai International Airport through the years

Dubai International Airport celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2020. Here passengers board a plane parked on a sand compacted runway in the 1960s. All photos: Dubai Airports

Dubai airport in the 1960s. By 1968 the airport was served by nine international airlines flying to 20 destinations

Developments in the 1970s included a new three-storey terminal building, control tower, additional taxiways and longer runways

The airport's second runway, equipped with the latest technology, was opened in 1984

The transit lounge at Dubai International airport in the 1970s

The air traffic control tower at Dubai International airport in the 1970s

The airport in the 1970s

Dubai Duty Free began operations in 1983 and had an annual turnover of $20 million in its first year

An aerial view of the airport in the 1970s

Dubai International Airport has served more than a billion passengers travelling on almost 7.5 million flights since it opened in 1960

Terminal 3, the exclusive terminal for Emirates airline, was opened in 2008. It is the world’s largest single terminal

In 2014, Dubai International welcomed 70.4 million passengers, becoming the world’s busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic

The airport welcomed its one billionth international passenger in 2018

It retained its title of the world’s busiest airport for international passengers for the sixth consecutive year in 2019, with 86.4 million passengers

Dubai airport in the 1990s. It was the first to introduce e-gates in 2002. Now, millions of passengers use the smart gates, which require residents to scan their passport or Emirates ID to avoid long queues