Dubai International Airport pax up 11%, cargo up 16% in Feb-2013

UAE's Dubai International Airport reported (26-Mar-2013) a 11.4% year-on-year increase in passenger numbers to 5.1 million in Feb-2013. Cargo volume increased 15.9% to 182,580 tonnes and aircraft movements increased 3.8% to 28,085. Eastern Europe was the fastest growing market in terms of percentage growth (+29.6%) driven by new services to Poland (Emirates) and Macedonia (flydubai), followed by Asia Pacific (+21.8%). The Middle East was the only region to record fewer travellers with a decline of 1.6%. The top three destination countries in terms of market size, continued to show strong positive growth overall in Feb-2013. Traffic to the Indian Subcontinent was up 10.8% while the UK saw a 5.2% traffic increase and the number three market Saudi Arabia continued its remarkable traffic growth with a 42.3% increase due to expanded services between Dubai and Saudi Arabia launched in 2012 by Emirates, flydubai, nasair and Saudi Arabian Airlines. [more - original PR]

Dubai Airports: "We continue to stay ahead of the curve in terms of our traffic forecast of 65.4 million passengers in 2013. We are also on track in terms of introducing capacity to meet demand," Paul Griffiths, CEO. Source: Company statement, 26-Mar-2013.