International passenger traffic at Dubai airports is projected to grow 13.6 per cent in 2010, according to updated forecast by Dubai Airports Company.

The company yesterday released its new traffic forecast for Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International (DWC-AMI), expected to launch operations in June next year.

According to the forecast, the total passenger traffic is expected to reach 40.5 million by the end of 2009 and top 46 million in 2010, backed by Dubai's location and advancements in aircraft technology as "key contributing factors".

Dubai Airports started the second half of 2009 on a positive note, as the Dubai International registered a 12.6 per cent rise in passenger traffic in July – the highest monthly growth-rate recorded since May 2008 (13.8 per cent). Between January and July this year, Dubai International recorded 23,148,452 passengers, up 6.1 per cent from the same period last year.

"Improving economic conditions, state-of-the-art infrastructure, strong expansion by Emirates airline and emerging low-cost carrier flydubai and an open skies policy, which promotes market access to other international airlines are driving this growth," said Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Airports.

He said: "New aircraft types such as the A380 and Boeing 777-ER are shrinking our globe and amplifying the attractiveness of Dubai's strategic location for international and regional operations. As a result, Dubai International has seen traffic triple in just eight years. Today we have more than 125 carriers serving 210 destinations on six continents."

The outlook through to the end of September and beyond, "remains strong", Griffiths had said recently. "The fact that Dubai International Airport is recording double-digit passenger growth during the deepest global recession in decades bodes well for the future. When the current economic situation improves, Dubai will be in good shape, ready to lead the global recovery in air travel," said Griffiths.

Meanwhile, the first phase of DWC-AMI is expected to stimulate traffic when it opens in June 2010, Dubai Airports said, adding that approximately one million passengers are expected to pass through DWC-AMI in 2010.

With regards to the capacities being projected at both the airports, Griffiths recently told Emirates Business: "We think we will get to about 80 million passengers at Dubai International, probably by about the middle of the next decade, by 2015. We currently have the capacity of about 60 million passengers. The new concourse – Concourse 3, which is rising out of the ground, will be finalised by 2011, and will take us to 75 million passengers."

He said: "Through a number of incremental process improvements and other things we are confident of getting another five million. And at the new airport, it would be exactly double of Dubai International. About 160 million passengers a year is the sort of design capacity we are working on."

The first phase of the new airport is being built to accommodate future traffic expansion with a single A380 compatible runway, a passenger terminal with capacity of five million passengers per annum expandable to seven million passengers per annum, a cargo terminal building capable of handling 250,000 tonnes per annum expandable to 600,000 tonnes per annum and a dedicated road link to the region's largest port in Jebel Ali, Dubai Airports said in the statement.

The Airport Council International (ACI) recently ranked Dubai International as the world's fifth busiest airport in terms of international passengers and fourth busiest for global air cargo volumes. "The projected growth in 2010 is likely to see Dubai rise in those rankings," said the airport company.

Also, Dubai International left behind Hong Kong International Airport in terms of passenger numbers for the first time in June this year, according to a recent report by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

"The global crisis has accelerated Dubai's ascent, as key financial hubs, such as Hong Kong, fall back sharply, while the swine flu outbreak is also affecting demand in Asia," said the report.

 

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the daily Emirates Business 24|7 newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.