Dubai airport sees 7.8% rise in passenger traffic

Passenger throughput at Dubai International Airport — the world\'s fourth biggest international passenger hub — grew 7.8 per cent during the first 11 months of the year to 46.28 million, according to Dubai Airports. The airport, which has a capacity of 60 million passengers annually, is just under four million passengers short of crossing the 50 million mark. Passenger traffic grew by 8.9 per cent in November to 4,431,673, compared to 4,070,296 in the same month in 2010. The GCC provided the largest increase in passenger numbers in November (134,491), followed by South Asia (77,375), Russia and the CIS (69,786), and Western Europe (48,830). The contraction in traffic on Middle Eastern routes continued in November, falling by 17,538 passengers. During the month, aircraft movements totalled 29,093, up 8.5 per cent from 26,823 in the same month of 2010. The year to date (January-November) flight movements increased by six per cent to 296,799, compared to 279,888 in the same period in 2010. Freight growth was flat with cargo volumes almost at par with the corresponding period last year. Dubai International Airport handled 191,658 tonnes of freight in November, a marginal decrease of 0.4 per cent from the 192,405 tonnes handled in the same period of 2010. The year to date freight movement reached 1,999,898 tonnes compared to the 2,033,828 tonnes handled in the corresponding period last year, a drop of 1.7 per cent. Describing the performance throughout the year as satisfactory, Jamal Al Hai, Dubai Airports executive senior vice president for International Affairs and Communications, said: \"Considering that we have had an average monthly traffic of 4.2 million passengers in the first 11 months of 2011, we are well on track to surpass the historical figure of 50 million in annual traffic this year. \"Dubai International is already among the five busiest hubs for international passengers and this milestone, while further affirming the soundness of Dubai\'s aviation model, will demand from us greater focus on managing growth.\"