Dubai International Airport monthly pax exceed 5 million for fourth consecutive month in Mar-2013

UAE's Dubai International Airport reported (29-Apr-2013) passenger numbers exceeded five million for the fourth consecutive month in Mar-2013, handling a record 5.8 million passengers during the month. Passenger traffic grew 20.6% year-on-year, the highest growth since Aug-2012. Cargo volume increased 14.7% to 213,248 tonnes and aircraft movements increased 8.3% to 31,713. For the first three months of 2013, passenger traffic increased 15.6% to 14.3 million. The largest increase in total passengers were recorded on the Western European routes (227,830) - driven mainly by Emirates and flydubai services, followed by the AGCC (209,737), and the Indian subcontinent (+202,703). Growth remained subdued (+2532) on South American routes while Middle Eastern routes registered moderate growth (+36,479). In terms of percentage growth, Eastern Europe was the fastest-expanding market (+67.9%) driven by Emirates' launch of new services to Poland and flydubai's service to Macedonia, followed by Asia Pacific (26.5%). Looking ahead, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said traffic looks set to continue its upsurge in the second quarter. [more - original PR]