Passenger traffic at Dubai International, DXB, has recorded its busiest month on record in July with over 8 million passengers, according to the monthly traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports today.

Passenger numbers in July totalled 8,065,789 compared to 7,616,792 handled in July 2016, a robust growth of 5.9 percent. DXB welcomed 51,120,057 passengers during the first seven months of the year, a 6.2 percent increase compared to 48,124,043 passengers, recorded during the same period last year.

South America was the fastest growing region in July with traffic surging 59 percent, followed by Asia at 20 percent, with China and Thailand as top contributors to traffic from the region, Eastern Europe at 16.3 percent, and Africa which grew by 9.1 percent.

India retained its position as the top destination country with 1,028,508 passengers, followed by the UK with 610,151, and Saudi Arabia with 573,170. The most popular destinations served from DXB by traffic volume were London, followed by Kuwait, Mumbai, Bangkok and Riyadh.

Flight movements during July reached 34,181, down 4.7 percent compared to 35,8864 movements recorded during July 2016.

Year to date flight movements totalled 240,179 compared to 243,832 recorded during the same period last year, a contraction of 1.5 percent. With DXB’s ratio of wide-bodied aircraft continuing to drive airport efficiency, passengers per movement peaked to a record high of 243 during July, up 10.1 percent compared to 220 in July 2016.

DXB recorded a surge in cargo with freight totalling 213,258 tonnes in July, up 5 percent compared to 203,153 tonnes recorded during the corresponding month last year. During the first seven months of 2017, DXB handled a total of 1,516,169 tonnes of cargo compared to 1,485,177 tonnes during the same period in 2016, an increase of 2.1 percent.

"We have started the second half of the year on a very positive note and with the Islamic festival of Eid Al Adha coinciding with the summer rush later this month, the upward trend is expected to remain strong in the third quarter," said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airport.

Source: Wam