Dubai International started the New Year with record monthly traffic of 7.3 million passengers in January, surpassing the previous benchmark of 7.2 million passengers which was set in August 2015.

Passenger traffic reached 7,327,637 in January 2016, up 6.3 per cent from 6,895,668 registered during the same month in 2015, according to the traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports today.

In terms of percentage growth, North America recorded the highest growth in passenger traffic (19.9 per cent) – led by Emirates with the addition of an Orlando route and increased services to Boston, New York and Seattle.

This was followed by the GCC (11.6 per cent), where Saudi Arabia registered double-digit growth thanks to the surge in traffic from Jeddah, and the Indian subcontinent (8.7 per cent) mainly propelled by traffic on routes to traditionally strong markets of India and Pakistan.

India remained the top destination country in January with a total of 989,819 passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (606,730 passengers) and the UK (488,819 passengers) while London was placed number one on the list of top destination cities followed closely by Doha and Jeddah.

Aircraft movements totalled 35,914 during the month under review compared to 34,643 movements recorded in January 2015, up 3.7 per cent.
Passengers per aircraft movement in January came in at 214.

DXB handled freight volumes totalling 201,483 tonnes in January 2016, an increase of 8.2 per cent compared to 186,230 tonnes recorded in January 2015.

“The record passenger numbers in January confirm that the growth trend from last year has continued into 2016 and we are on course to meet our projection of 85 million passengers that we expect to pass through our airport this year,” said Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths.

“Concourse D’s opening in February has increased DXB’s capacity to 90 million passengers a year, allowing us to continue to accommodate the rising number of people whilst boosting service levels.

“In the months ahead we will begin the complete refurbishment of Concourse C which will further improve passenger flows and the overall customer experience,” he added.