Aviation

Dubai airport reports record passenger numbers

November 19, 2024, 2:58 PM

Passengers collect their luggage at terminal 1 in Dubai International airport. DXB expects to handle 91.9m passengers this year — Passengers collect their luggage at Terminal 1 in Dubai International airport. DXB expects to handle 91.9m passengers this year

Traffic to grow 5.7% in 2024
Number of flights up 6.4%
Rise in Gulf visitors to UK

Dubai International airport (DXB) has reported record passenger traffic and visitor numbers for 2024.

Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports CEO, said that traffic is expected to grow 5.7 percent in 2024 compared to last year, with more tourists stopping off than ever before.

Traffic at DXB is expected to reach 91.9 million passengers this year, up from the 86.9 million that used the airport in 2023.

Griffiths said that DXB “is seeing more direct traffic than ever before – a shift from the long-standing trend where transfer traffic dominated”.

He said the change reflects Dubai’s evolution as a tourist destination, as well as being an attractive place to live and do business.

The airport said it had 68.6 million passengers in the first nine months of the year, a 6.3 percent increase on the same period last year.

The world’s busiest international airport handled 327,700 flight movements, up 6.4 percent year on year.

Dubai welcomed 13.29 million visitors in the nine months to the end of September, up 7.1 percent. Average occupancy across the 826 hotels and hotel apartments reached 76 percent, with revenue per available room (Revpar) reaching AED372 ($101) – up four percent on last year.

Visitors from the Gulf were also travelling in record numbers to the UK during the first six months of the year, with a double-digit increase in travellers, according to VisitBritain.

The UK’s national tourism agency said there were a record 512,000 visits during the period, up 25 percent year on year. It said visitors from the GCC also spent a record £1 billion ($1.26 billion) on their trips in the UK, up six percent.

“With the growing airline connectivity through regional gateways alongside the electronic travel authorisation scheme, travel to the UK is now easier and more accessible for GCC nationals,” said VisitBritain’s deputy director Middle East and Asia, Carol Maddison.

VisitBritain estimates 1.3 million visits from the GCC to the UK in 2024, and they are expected to spend £3.1 billion ($3.9 billion) on their trips.