Dubai Airports announced on Wednesday that the city’s main airport is poised to reach a new passenger milestone this year, following an 8% increase in traffic over the first six months.
Dubai International Airport (DXB), the busiest global airport for international traffic, saw 44.9 million passengers in the first half of the year. Dubai Airports highlighted strong demand from key markets like India and the rebound of China as significant factors in this growth.
Traffic from China, heavily impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, surged to over one million passengers. This marks an 80% increase year-on-year and reaches 90% of pre-pandemic levels from 2019.
“We have a very optimistic outlook for the remainder of the year, and we are on track to break records with 91.8 million annual guests forecasted for 2024,” CEO Paul Griffiths said in a statement.
In May, Griffiths predicted that Dubai Airport would handle 91 million passengers this year, breaking the previous record of 89.1 million set in 2018.
Dubai, a key tourism and trade center in the Middle East, saw a record 17.15 million international overnight visitors in 2023. The city draws many foreigners due to its large infrastructure projects, no income tax, and welcoming immigration policies.
In April, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, greenlit a new terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport with an investment of 128 billion dirhams ($35 billion). This expansion will make Al Maktoum the world’s largest airport, with a capacity of up to 260 million passengers—five times larger than Dubai International Airport (DXB). Sheikh Mohammed also stated that operations would eventually shift from DXB to the new facility.
DXB serves 269 destinations in 106 countries. Following India, Saudi Arabia, Britain, and Pakistan are the next top countries for passenger traffic, according to Dubai Airports.