Dubai International (DXB) welcomed more than 7.6 million passengers in April, according to the monthly traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports on Monday.

Passenger numbers reached 7.62 million in April, up 9.2 per cent compared to 6.97 million recorded during the same month in 2016. Following four months of robust growth, the year-to-date traffic reached 30.12 million compared to 27.93 million passengers during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 7.8 per cent.

"The growth at DXB has been very satisfying in the first four months of the year, and with the Islamic festival of Eid Al Fitr coinciding with start of the summer holidays next month, we are confident the numbers will boost our performance in the first half," said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

In terms of percentage growth, South America topped the list during April with traffic on routes to the region growing 38.9 per cent, followed by Eastern Europe (33.9 per cent) and Asia (18.9 per cent). The Indian subcontinent outperformed all regions in terms of volume with 1,694,476 passengers, followed by Western Europe (1,677,144), and the GCC (1,301,785 passengers). London was the top city destination for DXB with 350,015 passengers in April, followed by Doha (290,524), Jeddah (196,673), Bangkok (192,981) and Mumbai (191,183).

Total flight movements reached 35,285 in April compared to 34,945 during the same month in 2016, up 1 per cent. Year-to-date flight movements totalled 140,611, a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent compared to 140,238 during the first four months of 2016.

During April, the average number of passengers per movement was 225, an increase of 7.1 per cent compared to 210 recorded during the same month in 2016. DXB handled 217,881 tonnes of freight in April compared to 213,790 in the same month last year, an increase of 1.9 per cent. Year-to-date cargo totalled 854,359, up 3.1 per cent compared to 828,934 tonnes handled during the corresponding period in 2016.

Source: Khaleej Times