Unabated Travel Surge Propels Dubai Airport to Exceed Pre-Covid Passenger Traffic Levels

According to Paul Griffiths, the CEO of Dubai Airports, the demand for travel has continued to surge and is not affected by high ticket prices.

In an interview with The National, he mentioned that Dubai International Airport might surpass its pre-Covid passenger traffic levels this year. If the airport can maintain an average of 7.5 million monthly travelers for the rest of 2023, it could potentially handle over 90 million passengers this year, surpassing the 86.4 million passengers in 2019.

Dubai Airport Travel Surge

In an interview, Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, stated that the state-owned airport operator had already revised its passenger forecast for the year to 83.6 million, up from 78 million, indicating that it is close to reaching its 2019 annual traffic.

Griffiths also stated that if the airport hits an average of 7.5 million monthly travelers through the remainder of 2023, it could end the year with over 90 million annual passengers, surpassing the 86.4 million handled in 2019.

This is due to strong growth and increasing capacity at Emirates Airlines, the reopening of the Chinese travel markets, and the UAE's robust economic conditions.

Strong Demand

According to Dubai Airports, the strong travel demand has led to a revision in its annual passenger forecast, with Dubai International reaching 95.6% of its pre-pandemic passenger traffic in the first quarter of this year.

The airport saw a total of 21.2 million passengers during the first three months of the year, which is a 55.8% increase from the first quarter of 2022. Additionally, this is the first quarter since Q4 2019 that the airport's monthly average passenger traffic reached seven million.

The first quarter also marked the first time since the October-December 2019 period that the average monthly passenger traffic hit the seven-million mark. March saw the highest traffic figure, with 7.3 million passengers, which is also the highest monthly traffic since January 2020, when Dubai International recorded 7.8 million passengers.

The aviation sector, an essential part of Dubai's economy, has recovered strongly from the coronavirus-induced slowdown.

Dubai Airports remains optimistic about its outlook for the second quarter and the rest of the year, expecting local seasonal peaks and festive holidays to boost passenger traffic. The Airports Council International recently ranked Dubai International Airport as the world's busiest airport for international passengers for the ninth year in a row in 2022.