DXB raises passenger forecast as 2021 count crosses 20 million travellers

Passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport has grown by nearly 20 per cent in the last four weeks to reach 20.7 million from the start of 2021.

       The surge in travellers has compelled the airport to update its forecast by two million more passengers, helping the expected yearly figure climb to 28.7 million.

Flight movements in Q3 surged to 56,266 at DXB, propelling the number of flight movements recorded between January and September to 155,706, up 17.1 per cent.

"It's been a steady journey of recovery for DXB, and while we are still a long way from pre-pandemic levels of traffic, we are encouraged to see this significant increase in the rate of passenger growth which continues to endorse our position as the world's largest international airport," said Paul Griffiths, the CEO of Dubai Airports.

In response to this sustained increase in demand, the final piece of aviation infrastructure at DXB that was hibernated in response to the global pandemic, Concourse A, is being prepared for reopening before the end of November 2021, putting DXB back to 100 per cent capacity after 20 months of reduced operations.

In an interview with 103.8 Dubai Eye's Business Breakfast, Griffiths agreed that the hospitality and travel industry is "struggling to get adequate resources" to the large, returning numbers of travellers.

However, Griffiths assures travellers that Dubai has "partnered with a number of different companies" to stay "ahead of the curve".

South Asia retained its rank as Dubai’s largest contributor of traffic led by India with 2.8 million passengers and Pakistan with one million passengers.

Egypt was ranked third with 753,000 passengers, followed closely by the US at 710,000 passengers and Turkey with 598,000 passengers.