Dubai airport passenger traffic up 6.6 pct in August, busiest month on record

DUBAI - 26 September 2017: Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic, recorded its busiest month ever in August for passenger traffic, which the operator said was boosted by a seasonal increase in travellers.

The number of passengers travelling through the airport increased 6.6 percent to 8.23 million compared to the same month a year ago, operator Dubai Airports said in a statement on Tuesday.

August is the third time this year the airport has seen record monthly passenger traffic, beating July’s 8.07 million and January’s 8.04 million.

The number of passengers per flight increased 7.2 percent to 246, however, flight movements - or landings and take-offs - declined for the fourth consecutive month.

Flight movements were down 1.7 percent to 34,370.

The most popular destinations by passenger volume were London, Kuwait, and Mumbai, and the airport handled 221,508 tonnes of cargo, which was 10.1 percent more than the same month a year earlier.

Dubai Airports’ statement did not mention the regional crisis, which has seen the United Arab Emirates and other Arab states ban flights to and from Qatar.