DUBAI,Jan25, 2012: Dubai Airports on Tuesday said that it handled a record 51 million passengers last year as aircraft movements rose following the introduction of new routes and additional frequencies by leading airlines.Passenger traffic posted a year-on-year increase of eight per cent over the 47.2 million passengers who passed through the facility in 2010. The airport handled 4.69 million passengers in December compared to 4.26 million recorded during the same month in 2010, reflecting an increase of 10.2 per cent. Aircraft movements rose 7.7 per cent to 29,519 from 27,398 in December, while year-on-year growth was up 6.2 per cent at 326,317 last year. “Recording 51 million passengers in our 51st year of operations may be somewhat coincidental but it speaks volumes of the momentum building at one of the world’s fastest growing international hubs,” Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths said . In 2011, 28 new passenger destinations were added while 17 were discontinued, boosting overall passenger destinations served by Dubai International to 215 compared to 204 a year ago. The strongest markets served in terms of total passenger numbers included India, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Germany and the US. “In a year that was characterised by economic uncertainty, political instability and high oil prices passenger growth continued unabated driven by new routes and additional frequencies as airlines capitalised on Dubai’s attractiveness as a business and tourism destination and efficiency as a transfer hub. That trend will continue in 2012 with our two largest airlines — Emirates and flydubai — are set to receive additional aircraft throughout the year,” Griffiths said. Air freight traffic rebounded slightly in December to 189,593 tonnes, reflecting a modest increase of 0.8 per cent compared to the 188,103 tonnes handled during the same period last year. Full 2011 cargo volumes totalled 2.19 million tonnes down 1.5 per cent from the 2.22 tonnes recorded in 2010. Cargo traffic was impacted by the economic uncertainty in Europe and the US which eroded consumer confidence and led to a drop in exports, notably from Asia. “Dubai Airport’s record growth is a testimony to the city being able to draw in big numbers of travellers even though 2011 has had a lot economic difficulties in areas like the US and Europe. Overall, 2011’s performance has been nothing short of impressive when you consider the economic pressures elsewhere,” FBE Aerospace London chief analyst Saj Ahmad told. “Growth in the GCC through increased low-cost airline popularity has underscored the boost in passenger numbers and we can certainly see 2012 being a more stronger year than last. We can expect that Emirates will perform better in its second half of the year too,” Ahmad said. Massive investment Dubai Airports plans to invest $7.8 billion to boost its capacity from 60 million passengers a year to 90 million passengers by 2018. The airport expects to complete Concourse 3, the world’s largest dedicated facility for Airbus A380s, by the end of this year. “Aviation is big business in Dubai supporting 250,000 jobs and $22 billion in economic activity or 28 per cent of GDP,” Griffiths said. “By investing in the expansion of the airport infrastructure, those contributions are expected to grow to 372,900 jobs and $45.4 billion in economic activity or 32 per cent of GDP by 2020 according to international research firm Oxford Economics. That is a remarkable return on investment,” he added. Ahmad said Dubai now needs to markedly step up and speed up expansion at Al Matktoum International Airport so capacity growth can meet passenger growth. “The goal of reaching some 90 million passengers will likely be reaching that target before 2018.”
