Dubai International Airport passenger numbers surge 23 per cent

Dubai International Airport Terminal 3 taken from Emirates headquarters in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Passenger numbers surged at Dubai International Airport by 23 per cent in May from a year earlier, when runway repairs slowed growth.

A total of 6.26 million passengers used the airport in May compared with 5.08 million during the same period last year. In May 2013, 5.21 million passengers used the airport.

Global passenger traffic during May registered strong demand growth, led by the Middle East airlines, according to International Air Transport Association (Iata). Middle East carriers reported 14 per cent growth in demand, compared to a global average of 6.9 per cent, as capacity rose 19.7 per cent compared to 6.5 per cent globally. Load factor for the regional carriers fell 3.7 percentage points to 74.6 per cent.

But the trade body warned of a slowdown.

“The financial crisis in Greece and recent weakness in regional trade activity in Asia-Pacific have the potential to dampen performance in these markets in the coming months,” said Tony Tyler, Iata’s director general and chief executive. The airport underwent a US$1 billion runway refurbishment programme over an 80-day period starting in May last year.

During the first five months, Dubai International Airport received 32.38 million passengers, compared to 29.60 million passengers during the same period last year, an increase of 9.4 per cent.

The budget carrier flydubai’s new services to Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bosnia, Bulgaria and Croatia, Emirates’ service to Hungary, and Air France-KLM’s low-cost unit Transavia’s connections to Bulgaria drove up the growth rate in the eastern Europe sector to 85.4 per cent during May.

It was followed by the Indian subcontinent at 33.8 per cent, Arabian Gulf by 31.1 per cent and North America by 28 per cent.

The number of flights the airport handled rose to 34,017, an increase of 48.8 per cent from 22,856 in May last year.

It also handled 15.5 per cent more cargo in May to touch 216,712 tonnes, but the volumes last year were affected by the runway closure.

Apart for Middle Eastern carriers growth in global freight, volumes continued to slow in May, according to Iata on Wednesday.

“Some economic fundamentals still point to a rebound in the second half of the year, but we have to recognise that business confidence is flat and export orders in decline,” Mr Tyler said.

Freight demand for Middle Eastern carriers grew by 18.1 per cent, compared to a global average of 2.1 per cent, because of increasing trade within the region and the Gulf carriers’ hub strategy, the trade body said. Capacity expanded 19.4 per cent compared to the global average of 4.3 per cent.

Abu Dhabi International Airport, which reported a 14.9 per cent year-on-year rise in passenger numbers during May to 1.87 million, would now handle more flights to Seychelles.

Etihad Airways yesterday said it had started operating double daily services to Mahé in the Seychelles from four flights a week starting Wednesday.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter