Operator says Dubai will receive 78m passengers

Dubai International Airport is anticipating 78 million passengers to travel through its terminals in 2023, following a year in which passenger traffic more than doubled. DXB handled 66 million passengers in 2022, experiencing year-on-year growth of 127 percent, boosted by robust volumes during the final quarter of the year. During this period, the airport saw 19.72 million passengers, up 67 percent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, making it the busiest quarter since 2019.

India received the highest number of passengers to DXB with 9.8 million, followed by Saudi Arabia with 4.9 million and the UK with 4.6 million. The number of Russians traveling through DXB was 1.9 million as Emirates and Fly Dubai added flights to Russian cities since the Ukraine conflict began. In terms of traffic volume, London was the top destination city with 3 million passengers, followed by Riyadh with 2 million passengers and Mumbai with 1.9 million passengers.

The average number of passengers per flight reached 204, a 33 percent increase year-on-year, while total flight movements at DXB totalled 96,701 during the fourth quarter of 2022, bringing annual flight movements to 343,339, a year-on-year growth of 47 percent. However, cargo volumes continued to decline with 420,125 tons recorded in the fourth quarter, a 31.7 percent decrease when compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. DXB handled 1.7 million tons of cargo in 2022, a drop of 25.5 percent caused by the moving of all major freight operators back to Dubai World Central and the return of pax-freighter aircraft back to passenger operations during the year.

With Dubai hosting significant events such as the next UN Climate Change Conference, Paul Griffiths, CEO of DXB, is optimistic about the future. He stated that the airport is ready to tackle the challenges and opportunities that 2023 will present. DXB is one of the world’s largest international travel hubs and is expected to play a significant role in facilitating the transportation of people to and from these global events.