Airports Dubai Airport records 89.1 million passengers in 2018

The report shows, that the airport still retains its position as the world´s busiest airport for international passenger numbers. Dubai Airport announced it holds this position for five consecutive years now. 89.1 million people used the aircraft over the twelve months in 2018.

However, the airport did not reach its initial goal of 90.3 million passenger movements. Compared to 2017, the airport only noticed a 1 per cent rise in passenger numbers. This is mainly reasoned by the slow growth of the airport in 2018. Many months saw a decrease in passenger numbers. On average, 7.4 million customers used the hub per month.

Dubai Airport CEO Paul Griffiths commented: "Over the next year, we have to raise our game. We have got to find new ways of creating more capacity and better service quality from the limited space we have available in our facilities."

The airport´s top three cities were London with over 3,8 million passengers, Mumbai with over 2,5 million passengers and Kuwait with over 2,1 million passengers. India held its position as the airport´s top country. In total, 12,279,485 people travelled from Dubai to India in 2018. Saudi Arabia follows India as top destination country with over 6,4 million passengers.

408,251 aircraft movements were recorded throughout the year, representing a -0.3% decrease compared to 2017. The average number of customers per flight grew to 226.

The cargo business at the airport experienced a slight decrease of -0.5% as well. 2,641,383 tonnes of airfreight were handled at Dubai. Still, the city keeps its position as an important part of the global freight business.

Dubai International Airport recently presented a new corporate identity, which will be implemented over the coming years. The public airport is owned by the government of Dubai and is being operated by the Dubai Airports company.

The airport, which offers two runways, is an operational hub for Emirates Airline and low-cost carrier flydubai. 2018 saw both airlines coming together, as flydubai moved to Terminal 3, the largest airport terminal in the world.