24/01/12

Dubai airports announce record 51 million passengers last year

Positive Dubai tourism news, as Dubai attracts more passengers to its airports compared to last year.

Dubai’s largest airline, Emirates, handled a record 51 million passengers last year as the business hub attracted increased tourism amid an uneasy year for the economy.

Recent reports indicated that passenger traffic posted a year on year increase of 8 percent, positive news for Dubai tourism.  In December alone 4.69 million passengers passed through the airport compared to just over 4 million the previous year.

The state-run facility announced plans are now in place to invest $7.8 billion into Dubai’s airports to boost its capacity from 60 million passengers a year to 90 million passengers by 2018. The airport expects to complete Concourse 3, a dedicated facility for Airbus A380s, by the end of the year.

“In a year that was characterized by economic uncertainty, political instability and high oil prices, passenger growth continued unabated driven by new routes and additional frequencies,” said Dubai Airports Chief Executive Officer Paul Griffiths. “That trend will continue in 2012 with our two largest airlines – Emirates and flydubai – set to receive additional aircraft throughout the year.”

This is great news for Dubai tourism, and comes soon after recent articles reported the strengthening position of Dubai’s commercial property market.

Source: Bloomberg