Dubai International Airport records flat passenger growth in April

Dubai’s biggest airport served 0.8 per cent more passengers in the first four months of the year

Dubai International Airport, where more than 38,000 passports have been issued for Emiratis in four years. Dubai Airport Authority / AFP

Dubai International Airport (DXB), Dubai’s largest airport, served 7.61 million passengers in April, 0.1 per cent less than the same month last year, operator Dubai Airports said on Sunday.

Year-to-date traffic totalled 30.3 million passengers, up 0.8 per cent compared to the first four months of 2017. The operator gave no explanation for the flat passenger figures.

Eastern Europe was the fastest growing market in April 2018, with traffic growing 28 per cent, followed by the CIS region, with 17.7 per cent growth and Africa with 9.9 per cent.

India maintained its position as the top destination country by passenger numbers with a total of 1 million passengers during the month.

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Saudi Arabia was second with 556,640 passengers, followed by the UK with 530,404 passengers, and Pakistan with 369,493 passengers. Meanwhile, London was the top destination city with 315,979 passengers, followed by Mumbai (202,981 passengers), and Jeddah (185,017 passengers), Dubai Airports said.

The total number of flight movements at DXB continued to contract, as airlines across the world continue efficiency savings including route alterations, and achieve a higher load factor as a result. There were 34,244 flight movements at DXB in April, down 3 per cent compared to 35,285 in April 2017.

Year-to-date flight movements also decreased by 3 per cent, to 136,359 compared to 140,613 recorded during the first four months in 2017.

At the same time, the average number of passengers per flight movement in April remained high at 230 compared to 225 during the corresponding month in 2017, an increase of 2.2 per cent, Dubai Airports’ report said.

Cargo volumes totalled 216,333 tonnes, down 0.7 per cent compared to the year earlier period. Year-to-date freight volumes totalled 832,187 tonnes, down 2.6 per cent on the first four months of 2017.