It looks to be another record-breaking year… 

It seems that no matter what time of year you travel, Dubai International (DXB) is always bustling. And you aren’t wrong in thinking so. According to DXB, the airport has already handled 23 million passengers this year from January to March 2024.

In January alone, DXB handled close to 8 million passengers. The numbers show a 8.4 per cent increase which marks the busiest quarter in history. And the second quarter is already off to a strong start despite the setbacks the airport faced with the rain.

If the numbers stay at this projected rate, DXB expects to receive a record 91 million passengers in 2024. This surpasses the previous annual traffic record which stands at 89.1 million in 2018.

dubai airport

How likely is it that this will be the case? Well, Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports said that the airport is expected to ‘comfortably’ exceed 90 million passengers this year.

Griffiths added that the growth is partially due to the added network from Emirates and flydubai.

Dubai saw a surge in visitors with a whopping 17 million overnight international tourists in 2023. The scale represents a 19.4 per cent year-on-year growth in the statistics from last year, as 2022 saw 14.36 million tourist arrivals.

“As Dubai emerges as a global leader in attracting talent, businesses, and tourists from across the globe, our focus remains on sustaining growth momentum and enhancing the overall airport experience for every guest passing through our terminals,” said Griffiths

DXB currently has connections to 256 destinations across 102 countries through 90 international carriers.

Where are the numbers coming from?

According to the stats released by Emirates News Agency (WAM), India remained DXB’s top destination country with passenger traffic reaching 3.1 million guests, followed by Saudi Arabia with two million, the UK with 1.5 million, and Pakistan with 1.1 million.

The top cities by passenger numbers include London with 961,000 guests, Riyadh (795,000), and Jeddah (669,000), followed by Mumbai with 637,000 guests.

Fun fact: On the luggage front, for the first three months of 2024, DXB managed 26.8 million bags…

Images: Emirates News Agency (WAM)