Passenger traffic at Dubai International exceeded 7.9 million in January, according to a traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports.

DXB welcomed a total of 7,960,146 passengers in January, a small reduction of one per cent compared to 8,037,008 recorded in January 2017 when passenger volumes were boosted due to Chinese New Year.

The celebrations fell in February this year.

South America was the top region in terms of percentage growth during the month, up 22.6 per cent, followed by the CIS, which was up 19.7 per cent.

The bulk of the latter increase resulted from the surge on routes like Moscow, Baku, and Kazan among others.

Africa was up 6.4 per cent, propelled by the launch of new services by Med View and Emirates on routes to Abuja and the doubling of Emirates’ services to Lagos.

In terms of passenger numbers, routes to the Indian subcontinent topped the list, with 1,100,477 passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (650,822 passengers), and the UK (547,286 passengers).

London was the top destination city with 333,286 passengers, followed by Kuwait (231,956 passengers), and Mumbai (225,776 passengers).

Flight movements during January totalled 35,306 compared to 36,592 during the same month last year, a contraction of 3.5 per cent.

The average number of passengers per flight remained high at 232 during the month, an increase of 0.9 per cent compared to 230 recorded in January 2017. 

“With passenger numbers nearing eight million during the first month of the year, we’ve had a very encouraging start to 2018,” said Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports.

“What’s even more encouraging is that processes and technologies we have implemented recently are creating a smoother experience for our customers despite the high traffic volumes.”