Dubai International welcomed 5.9 million passengers in June according to the monthly traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports. 

Passenger traffic during June increased 16.7 per cent to 5,914,671, compared to 5,067,726 during the same month in 2014.

The year to date traffic surged 10.4 per cent to reach 38,299,291, compared to 34,676,090 during the first half of 2014.

The increase in traffic during June can be attributed to the runway refurbishment project between May and July last year during which the airport was reduced to a single runway operation.

The surge in traffic was countered by a drop in number of passengers during the holy month of Ramadan which fell in June this year.

Dubai International recorded total aircraft movements of 32,114, up 45.8 per cent compared to 22,031 recorded during June 2014 when the airport was reduced to a single runway operation due to the runway refurbishment project.

Year to date aircraft movements totalled 199,624, rising 16.9 per cent from the 170,815 movements recorded during first half of 2014.

Freight volumes increased 17.2 per cent to 217,896 compared to 185,842 tonnes recorded in June 2014. Year to date cargo totalled 1,232,861, up 1.7 per cent compared to 1,212,444 during the first six months in 2014.

“The seasonal travel rush hit its first peak in late June and like every year we were ready with our annual summer campaign and additional resources to ease passenger journey through our airport.

“We are very satisfied with the growth numbers in the first half of the year and anticipate the growth trend to continue throughout the remainder of second half to help us reach our annual forecast of over 79 million passengers,” said Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports.