Dubai Airports has announced that 6.68 million passengers passed through Dubai International in July -up 29.6 per cent from the same month last year when traffic numbers were affected by a runway refurbishment programme.

Passenger numbers in July totalled to 6,682,676 compared to the 5,155,771 handled in July 2014 when the airport was reduced to one runway while a $1bn refurbishment programme was conducted over an 80 day span.

During the first seven months of 2015, DXB welcomed 44,981,967 passengers, compared to 39,831,861 passengers during the same period last year, an increase of 12.9 per cent.

Eastern Europe was again the strongest growing region in July, up 77.6 per cent, driven mainly by flydubai’s new services to Slovakia, Bosnia, Bulgaria and Croatia, and Emirates service to Hungary.

The number of flights rose dramatically in July to 33,650, an increase of 35 per cent from 24,925 recorded during July 2014 again due to the effect of the runway closure.

Year to date flight movements totalled 231,081 up 18.8 per cent from 194,554 aircraft movements recorded during the same period last year.

“Over six million passengers per month has become the norm at DXB and we expect that to continue for the remainder of the year,” said Paul Griffiths, chief executive, Dubai Airports.

“Despite the high volumes we have maintained service levels by implementing detailed operational plans, boosting staff levels, intensifying communication efforts with our business partners and customers.”