Dubai's air passenger growth hits 7.3% in October

Economic uncertainty and flagging consumer confidence in Europe and the United States failed to halt growth in passenger numbers at Dubai International in October, its operator said on Monday. Passenger traffic surged 7.3 percent to 4.3 million passengers last month, according to the latest traffic statistics released by Dubai Airports. October passenger numbers rose to 4,307,817 compared to 4,013,127 recorded during the same month in 2010. Through the first ten months of the year, passenger numbers totalled 41,855,561, an increase of 7.7 percent over the corresponding period in 2010. The GCC recorded the largest increase in total passenger numbers in October, followed by the Indian subcontinent and Western Europe, Dubai Airports said in a statement. Traffic to and from Russia and the CIS rose due to Flydubai's expansion into that region while North American passenger increases were driven by increased frequency, capacity and demand on Emirates flights to Los Angeles, Houston and New York. The contraction in traffic on Middle Eastern routes continued in October due to ongoing political unrest in some markets, the statement added. Aircraft movements for October reached 28,463 up 7.2 percent from 26,558 recorded during the same month in 2010. Global economic conditions continued to put a drag on air freight traffic growth. Dubai International handled 197,841 tonnes of freight in October, a contraction of 2.5 percent% compared to 202,984 tonnes recorded during the same period in 2010. Year to date freight volumes reached 1,808,239 tonnes, down 1.8 percent. "New routes, additional frequencies and extra capacity continue to drive passenger traffic growth at the Dubai hub," said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths. "And we continue to break records. In October, Dubai International achieved yet another milestone by passing the 50 million passenger mark over a 12 month period for the first time." Dubai International is the fourth busiest airport worldwide for international passenger and cargo traffic.