São Paulo – Passenger traffic at Middle East airports was up 10.1% in 2013, according to information released this Friday (14th) by Airports Council International (ACI). As per ACI data disclosed by Dubai’s Gulf News newspaper, traffic growth at airports in the region has remained in the double-digit range, and preliminary data indicate that the Dubai Airport was the seventh busiest in the world last year in total passenger number. Considering international flights alone, the emirate’s terminal was the second busiest, after Heathrow in London.
Passenger traffic at Middle East airports, particularly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, saw the highest growth rates in the world in December. Airports in the region saw a 10.5% average increase in December 2013 from December 2012. For the sake of comparison, passenger traffic at Asia-Pacific airports was up 7.2% December-on-December.
The Dubai Airport management had already reported in January that the terminal saw a 15.2% increase in passenger traffic in the whole of 2013 from 2012. A total of 66.4 million people boarded or alighted flights at the facility in 2013. The Abu Dhabi airport saw a 12.4% increase, to 16.5 million passengers, and the Sharjah airport saw a 12% increase to 8.5 million passengers. The three terminals are located in the United Arab Emirates.
Middle East airports also posted an increase in cargo throughput, which was up 24.4% in Abu Dhabi and 7.4% in Dubai. The latter shipped 2.4 million tonnes. The rates are higher than those of North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, and Africa. Cargo throughput declined in the African continent. According to the ACI, cargo throughput was up 5.4% in the Middle East and 0.9% in the Asia-Pacific region.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
