Dubai Airports official forecast of 88.8 million passengers this year (document)
It is “entirely possible” that the Dubai aviation hub will break passenger traffic records this year after surpassing pre-pandemic levels in 2023, the chief executive of Dubai Airports told AFP on Monday.
Dubai International Airport has been the world’s busiest international passenger airport for nearly a decade, handling 87 million passengers in 2023 despite the Gaza war, new data shows, surpassing 86.4 million passengers in 2019 .
Chief executive Paul Griffiths said the early recovery in Dubai, the UAE’s business and financial hub, and a rapid rebound in airport staffing levels were key factors.
“We were prepared earlier. We got back to 100% capacity quicker, so our traffic bounced back faster,” he said, adding that Dubai’s record of 89.1 million passengers in 2018 was likely will be surpassed. Year.
“I think there’s a good chance of beating it. It could be a new record,” Griffith said. “I looked at the data for January and I would say that gives me some reason to be optimistic.”
Although the war between Israel and Hamas began in October, Dubai Airports officials forecast passenger throughput of 88.8 million this year, slightly below the historical record.
“We have demonstrated the absolute resilience of the network we operate,” Griffiths said, adding that Dubai Airport serves 104 countries via 102 airlines.
He added: “If there is a slight drop in demand at a certain destination or origin, then this tends to be made up for by other parts of the network filling up the space.”
Griffiths said cargo volumes rose 20.4% last quarter, likely due to attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
He would not discuss security arrangements at the airport, saying only that they were “developing well”.
In January 2022, the Houthis launched drones and missiles at critical infrastructure in the UAE, killing three oil workers and causing a fire at Abu Dhabi Airport.
Griffiths said traffic growth to and from fast-growing Saudi Arabia had been “phenomenal”, with Riyadh now the second-busiest route to Dubai after London.
“If you look at the growth of travel and tourism around the world, we’ve only scratched the surface in this region,” he said.
“The region is realizing that travel and tourism is an excellent driver of economic growth and that it is not really competitive but collaborative and complementary.
“The more cities and options there are for people to visit, the more people will come to the area.”
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