Dubai airport traffic up 7.3%

Passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport grew by 7.3 per cent year-on-year in October despite a drop in travellers for the Middle East due to the ongoing political unrest, operator Dubai Airports said on Monday. 

The world's fourth busiest airport handled 4.3 million passengers, up from 4 million in the same period last year, it said in a statement. 

Aircraft movements for October reached 28,463, up 7.2 per cent from 26,558 recorded during the same month in 2010. 

"New routes, additional frequencies and extra capacity continue to drive passenger traffic growth at the Dubai hub," said Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports. 

The strongest passenger growth came from Russia with a near 34 percent increase, followed by the Gulf Arab region that grew by about 30 percent. 

However, traffic on the Middle Eastern routes contracted during the month as tourists stayed clear of some unrest hit countries in the region. 

Air freight traffic was also impacted due to the global economic conditions, thereby contracting 2.5 percent to 197,841 tonnes of freight handled in October compared with 202,984 tonnes recorded during the same period in 2010. 

One of the seven emirates in the UAE, the trade and business hub of Dubai was hit by the $25 billion debt restructuring of Dubai World. 

Europe's worsening debt crisis and weakness in the U.S. economy may slow growth in the United Arab Emirates to around 3 percent next year, top officials said earlier this month.   

Passenger numbers at Dubai International Airport are set to exceed 75 million by 2015, Dubai Airports said in June.  

Government-run Dubai Airports owns and manages the operation and development of both of Dubai's airports, Dubai International and Dubai World Central.

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