Dubai International Airport features at number five on the top ten busiest international air routes list of 2022.
The Middle East hub, which handled more than 60 million passengers last year, accounts for half of the world’s busiest international air routes according to aviation consultancy OAG.
Topping the billing for the UAE airport is its Dubai to Riyadh route, with 3.19 million scheduled seats and 40 flights per day. It is the second busiest international route in the world, behind Cairo to Jeddah that had 3.23 million seats scheduled in the past 12 months.
London Heathrow to Dubai, a route that has just had Emirates Airline's first retrofitted A380 superjumbo deployed on it, is the fourth busiest route in the world. It ranks behind the London airport's services to New York JFK, which lists in third place in terms of scheduled seats.
Dubai to Jeddah also features in the top 10, with 2.42 million seats per year. Destinations in the Middle East climbed up the rankings in 2022, taking the lead from other routes across Asia, according to OAG.
India also experienced an increase in route capacity with two routes ranking in the top 10, both of which operate between Dubai. These include Mumbai to Dubai, a route with 1.97 million seats, and Delhi to Dubai which squeezes into 10th position with 1.89 million scheduled seats.
Other routes making it into the ranking include Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, which ranks fifth after being the world's busiest route back in 2019; Orlando to San Juan as the seventh busiest route; and Cairo to Riyadh listed in ninth.
Top 10 international air routes 2022
1. Cairo — Jeddah: 3,234,683 seats
2. Dubai — Riyadh: 3,191,090 seats
3. New York JFK — London Heathrow: 2,848,044 seats
4. Dubai — London Heathrow: 2,697,593 seats
5. Kuala Lumpur — Singapore: 2,443,176 seats
6. Dubai — Jeddah: 2,425,930 seats
7. Orlando — San Juan: 2,099,234 seats
8. Mumbai — Dubai: 1,977,537 seats
9. Cairo — Riyadh: 1,913,991 seats
10. Delhi — Dubai: 1,898,749 seats
OAG defines the world's busiest flight routes as those with “the largest volume of scheduled airline seats” with data recorded for flights in both directions on each route. The data took into account scheduled seats between October 2021 and September 2022.
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The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh135,000
Engine 1.6L turbo
Gearbox Six speed automatic with manual and sports mode
Power 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 240Nm @ 1,400rpm 0-100kph: 9.2 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
Results
Light Flyweight (49kg): Mirzakhmedov Nodirjon (UZB) beat Daniyal Sabit (KAZ) by points 5-0.
Flyweight (52kg): Zoirov Shakhobidin (UZB) beat Amit Panghol (IND) 3-2.
Bantamweight (56kg): Kharkhuu Enkh-Amar (MGL) beat Mirazizbek Mirzahalilov (UZB) 3-2.
Lightweight (60kg): Erdenebat Tsendbaatar (MGL) beat Daniyal Shahbakhsh (IRI) 5-0.
Light Welterweight (64kg): Baatarsukh Chinzorig (MGL) beat Shiva Thapa (IND) 3-2.
Welterweight (69kg): Bobo-Usmon Baturov (UZB) beat Ablaikhan Zhussupov (KAZ) RSC round-1.
Middleweight (75kg): Jafarov Saidjamshid (UZB) beat Abilkhan Amankul (KAZ) 4-1.
Light Heavyweight (81kg): Ruzmetov Dilshodbek (UZB) beat Meysam Gheshlaghi (IRI) 3-2.
Heavyweight (91kg): Sanjeet (IND) beat Vassiliy Levit (KAZ) 4-1.
Super Heavyweight ( 91kg): Jalolov Bakhodir (UZB) beat Kamshibek Kunkabayev (KAZ) 5-0.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
