Dubai International Airport is poised to surpass its pre-pandemic passenger records from 2019, said Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports, at the Dubai Air Show at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai World Central on November 15.
The Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel and home of the long-haul carrier Emirates, had 64.5 million passengers in the third quarter of this year. The number puts the airport on track to reach 86.8 million passengers for the year, which would exceed its 2019 figure of 86.3 million passengers.
The international airport had 66 million passengers last year. Its busiest year was 2018, when it hosted 89.1 million passengers.
Through the third quarter, Dubai’s main airport handled 3,08,000 total takeoffs and landings. India, long a key route for Emirates’ East-West travel strategy, was first among all countries in destinations, followed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the US, and Russia.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains the busiest passenger airport overall.
At this year’s Dubai Air Show, Emirates announced a $52 billion aircraft purchase deal with Boeing Co. Its sister airline FlyDubai bought $11 billion of aircraft from Boeing at the show.
