São Paulo – Dubai International Airport (DXB) recorded its busiest quarter since 2020 from January to March this year. 13.6 million passengers passed through the Emirati airport in the period, indicating an upturn in air traffic in one of the busiest hubs in the world. It is the second consecutive quarter in which the number of travelers on DXB has surpassed 10 million.
The highest passenger volume was recorded in March, with 5.5 million. The first quarter movement represented a 15.7% increase compared to the last quarter of 2021, which had 11.8 million passengers. Only 5.7 million passengers passed through the DXB in the first quarter of 2021.
The DXB is currently connected to 193 destinations in 92 countries served by 73 international operators.
In terms of cargo, the airport handled 519,500 tonnes in the first three months of 2022, a 15.5% contraction compared to the previous quarter (Q4 2021), in which the hub handled 614,800 tonnes of air freight.
Q1 2022 totaled 81,966 flights, a 5.8% growth over Q4 2021, which recorded 77,475 flights to and from the DXB.
The top destination country remained India, which maintained its long-standing lead with 1.6 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia with 1.1 million, Pakistan with 997,000, and the United Kingdom with 934,000 travelers. The top three cities in passenger numbers were London with 617,000, Riyadh with 517,000, Jeddah with 337,000, and Istanbul with 324,000 passengers.
In a statement, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said: “DXB’s performance over the past successive quarters is nothing short of impressive and is a direct outcome of Dubai’s clear strategy and efforts to restore international air connectivity and mobility and lead the global aviation industry out of an unprecedented crisis.”
The resumption of international air travel in key markets, according to Griffiths, has allowed airport stopover traffic to recover to 60% of 2019 levels. Prospects for 2022 remain high, and annual traffic of 58.3 million passengers is expected.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
