Dubai International celebrates 55 years on 30 Sept

Handled a record 7.2m passengers in August - the largest amount of passengers ever in a single month  

1 October 2015

Dubai: Dubai International celebrated its 55 years since opening on Wednesday with operator Dubai Airports announcing that the airport saw the largest amount of passengers ever in a single month in August.

A record 7,282,256 were seen passing through Dubai International in August 2015, the first time passenger numbers have exceed 7 million and 9.5 per cent more than the 6,648,058 that used the airport in August last year.

The previous record was reached in January 2015 when 6.89 million passed through Dubai International, according to Dubai Airports.

An increase in flights and a reasonable rush of travellers and inbound traffic of residents returning ahead of the calendar year boosted August passenger numbers, Dubai Airports said in a statement.

Passenger numbers for the year have risen by 12.4 per cent to 52,264,223 as of August 31, 2015 compared to 46,479,919 a year earlier.

The Indian subcontinent was the highest growth region in sheer passenger numbers, up 143,970, followed by Western Europe, up 129,950, and the Arab Gulf States, up 111,637. The fastest growing markets in terms of percentage growth were Eastern Europe, up 67.9 per cent; North America, up 24.8 per cent; and the Middle East, up 11.6 per cent.

India was the top destination country in August with financial capital Mumbai the busiest destination. The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia were the two other top destination countries, and London, Kuwait and Doha were the other major destinations.

The number of aircraft landings and take-offs were 34,773, up 11.4 per cent compared to 31,214 in August 2014. Dubai International handled 207,427 tonnes of cargo in August, up 5.3 per cent.