Dubai International Airport has released its traffic figures for 2023, with passenger numbers exceeding 2019 levels.
The center received a total of 86,994,365 customers last year, an increase of 31.7 percent compared to 2022 and more than the 86,396,757 travelers who passed through the airport in 2019 before the pandemic.
The figure was driven by growth in the second half of 2023, with 45.4 million registered customers. August was the busiest month of the year with 7.9 million passengers, followed by December with 7.8 million.
However, the figure is not actually a record for Dubai International: the airport welcomed more than 88 million passengers in 2017 and more than 89 million passengers in 2018.
The center said early projections showed its traffic in 2024 will reach 88.8 million, just shy of the overall annual record.
India recorded the highest traffic from the airport last year with around 11.9 million customers, while in terms of cities London maintained the first place with 3.7 million passengers, followed by Riyadh (2.6 million) and Mumbai (2.5 million).
Last month, Dubai's flag carrier Emirates said it was experiencing “an increase in bookings to and from the UK” over the next 12 months, with destinations such as London and Glasgow performing particularly well.
London and Glasgow will be Emirates' most popular gateways to the UK in 2024
Commenting on the news, Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said:
“I am incredibly proud of everyone at Dubai International, for their dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence, which has driven us to break many of our own records. 2023 was an exceptional year and is a testament to our unwavering commitment to operational excellence, efficiency, innovation and delivering an exemplary guest experience.
“This resulted in DXB achieving its highest internal engagement scores, a reflection of our commitment to fostering a collaborative culture, where every contribution is valued and every employee is empowered to reach their full potential.
“I want to express my gratitude to our dedicated team, the heart of our organization, and to our partners whose collaborative work was instrumental in achieving these milestones.
“Looking ahead, we are renewing our commitment to collectively improve the airport experience for all our guests by launching major projects to renovate facilities at DXB and strengthen our infrastructure for future growth. “DXB remains firmly positioned as a global leader, setting the gold standard for exceptional guest experiences and excellence in international aviation.”
Dubai recently announced that it welcomed a record 17.15 million overnight international visitors in 2023, surpassing the 16.73 million visitors recorded in 2019.
Dubai will welcome a record number of tourists in 2023
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