Dubai International Airport pax up 13% in Sep-2013, cargo up 2%; expected to 'eclipse' projections

UAE's Dubai International Airport reported (29-Oct-2013) a 13.1% year-on-year increase in passenger numbers to 5.4 million in Sep-2013. Cargo volume increased 1.8% to 196,823 tonnes while aircraft movements increased 10.2% to 30,746. All regions recorded positive growth during the month, with the exception of South America (-6.9%). On a country level, Australia (+41.7%), France (+23.7%), Saudi Arabia (+22.4%), Thailand (+21.8%) and the UK (+21.7%) saw the largest increases. Meanwhile, in terms of overall passenger numbers, Western Europe traffic took over as the top market due to robust growth (+14.8%) during the month. GCC came in second thanks to 15% year-on-year passenger traffic growth. The Indian subcontinent, which took third spot, continued to show positive growth (+9.8%) due to the expansion of several Indian carriers including Indigo, SpiceJet and Air India Express. Commenting on the results, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said the airport is on track to "eclipse our projections for 65.4 million passengers and 2.7 million tonnes of cargo." [more - original PR]