Qantas link with Emirates lifts Dubai International Airport to new heights

Passenger traffic through the airport rose 11 per cent last month, with Australasia the fastest-growing market, increasing by 30.5 per cent on the back of the tie-up.

Qantas forged an alliance with Emirates Airline last year in which Europe-bound Qantas flights stop over in Dubai rather than in South East Asia. Emirates expanded the alliance on February 13, 2014 to include a codeshare agreement with Jetstar, the low-cost unit of Qantas. Barbara Walton / EPA
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Emirates Airline’s partnership with Australia’s Qantas helped to propel passenger traffic through Dubai International Airport by more than 11 per cent last month.

Australasia was the fastest-growing market for passenger traffic, increasing by 30.5 per cent on the back of the tie-up, figures from Dubai Airports showed yesterday.

A year ago, Qantas forged an alliance with Emirates in which Europe-bound Qantas flights stop over in Dubai rather than in South East Asia. On February 13, Emirates expanded the alliance to include a codeshare agreement with Jetstar, the low-cost unit of Qantas.

Overall passenger traffic last month reached 5.6 million from 5 million a year earlier, reflecting growth of 11.7 per cent.

“With only a little more than 800,000 passengers separating Dubai International from London Heathrow during 2013, we are on track to take over the top spot [for international traffic] by 2015,” said Paul Griffiths, the chief executive of Dubai Airports.

The Indian subcontinent had the biggest increase in terms of passenger numbers, followed by western Europe, Arabian Gulf countries and Asia.

India kept its rank as the top destination country with 699,179 passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia with 434,454 and the United Kingdom with 405,141.

Among cities, Doha was No 1, followed by London, Kuwait and Jeddah.

Freight volumes rose 3.4 per cent year-over-year to 188,702 tonnes, compared with 182,580 tonnes in 2013.

selgazzar@thenational.ae

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