Dubai Airports is expecting a high surge in passenger numbers in the final quarter of 2023, propelling annual traffic at Dubai International (DXB) to surpass pre-pandemic levels.
The airport is expected to welcome a total of 86.8 million passengers this year, exceeding the figures recorded in 2019.
Throughout the first three quarters of the year, DXB experienced strong growth, with average monthly traffic reaching 7.6 million passengers, matching pre-pandemic levels.
In Q3 alone, the airport achieved its highest quarterly traffic since 2019, with 22.9 million passengers.
This contributed to a year-to-date traffic of 64.5 million passengers, representing a remarkable 39.3 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022 and a slight 1 percent rise compared to 2019.
“We’re thrilled but not entirely surprised that DXB is all set to surpass the pre-pandemic milestone well ahead of our initial projections by almost a year. Our outlook for the remainder of this year and the next remains optimistic,” Paul Griffiths, the CEO of Dubai Airports said.
Griffiths also spoke about the airport’s commitment to exceeding guest satisfaction and addressing sustainability challenges.
Looking ahead, Dubai Airports expects record-breaking numbers to continue in the fourth quarter of 2023 and throughout 2024.
Dubai Airports to expand infrastructure capacity
To accommodate this growth, the company is undertaking a strategic project to expand infrastructure capacity and enhance operational efficiency.
With the deployment of innovative technology and improvements to existing infrastructures, DXB aims to increase its current capacity of 100 million passengers annually to 120 million.
Dubai’s position as the city with the highest spending by international visitors, earning $29.4 billion, and its reputation for deploying cutting-edge technologies make it an attractive destination.
Dubai Airports continues to collaborate closely with stakeholders to deliver the expected experience to its guests.
India tops passenger traffic at Dubai Airports
In terms of top destinations, India ranked first with 8.9 million passengers in the first nine months of the year, followed by Saudi Arabia with 4.8 million passengers and the UK with 4.4 million passengers.
Other notable country destinations included Pakistan, the US, and Russia. The top cities by traffic were London, Riyadh, Mumbai, and Jeddah.
In terms of performance, DXB’s baggage handling system processed a total of 57.5 million bags in 2023, achieving an impressive success rate of 99.8 percent and handling 2.5 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers.
The airport also demonstrated efficiency in delivering baggage, with 91 percent of all baggage being delivered within 45 minutes to guests. The volume of baggage in 2023 represented 106.07 percent of the 2019 baggage volume.
Passport control queues at DXB were efficiently managed, with the average waiting time for 96.4 percent of arriving passengers being less than 11 minutes and 95.1 percent of departing passengers queuing for less than six minutes.
Security-check queues on departures had an average waiting time of less than four minutes for 98.4 percent of passengers.
Cargo operations experienced significant growth in the third quarter, with a 12.3 percent year-on-year surge, reaching 446,400 tonnes.
This strong performance helped offset a double-digit contraction recorded at the end of the previous year.
In the first nine months of 2023, DXB handled 1.3 million tonnes of cargo, representing a minor decline of under 1 percent.
Flight movements also demonstrated positive momentum, with a 5.1 percent increase in the third quarter, totaling 106,000 movements.
Between January and September, DXB managed a total of 308,000 flight movements, reflecting a substantial 25.2 percent year-on-year growth.
Follow us on
