Dubai remains world's busiest international hub with 29.1 million passengers in 2021

Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3, Concourse B. Photo: Dubai Airports

Dubai International Airport recorded a 12.7 per cent increase in annual passenger traffic in 2021, driven by a strong fourth quarter, beating its own forecast and retaining the title of the world's busiest international hub for the eighth consecutive year.

The airport, the base for Emirates airlines and a key source of revenue for Dubai, handled 29.1 million passengers last year, exceeding its forecast of 28.7 million, the operator Dubai Airports, said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Despite unprecedented turmoil affecting millions of people all over the world, we overcame many serious obstacles to the operation of the world’s largest international hub," Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said. "This ... was achieved in the face of abruptly changing travel regulations and concerns about new waves of [Covid-19] infection."

The rise in last year's passenger traffic was helped by the last three months of the year, when DXB handled 11.8 million passengers, 77 per cent more than in the previous quarter.

It was the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic that DXB’s quarterly traffic surpassed the 10 million mark. December was the busiest month of the year with 4.5 million passengers.

Dubai has recorded a strong rebound in tourism in recent months, partly driven by Expo 2020. The emirate hosted 7.28 million international overnight visitors between January and December 2021, up 32 per cent year-on-year, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism announced earlier this month.

International visitors to the emirate crossed 3.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, accounting for 74 per cent of the total pre-pandemic tourist arrivals in the same period in 2019.

Dubai Airports is currently forecasting 55.1 million passengers to pass through DXB by the end of 2022, lower than its earlier forecast of 57 million travellers, but said its latest projection could be exceeded by a "significant margin" if current trends continue.

"With the eagerly anticipated reopening of key markets such as Australasia and the further easing of travel regulations around the world, the outlook for 2022 is very promising and we are in an excellent position to continue to lead the world’s air travel sector on the road to recovery," said Mr Griffiths, who has run state operator Dubai Airports since 2007.

India retained its position as the top destination country for DXB last year by passenger volume, with traffic totalling 4.2 million, followed by Pakistan with 1.8 million, Saudi Arabia with 1.5 million and the UK with 1.2 million passengers.

Other destination countries of note include the US (1.1 million), Egypt (1 million) and Turkey (945,000 passengers).

DXB’s top destination cities during 2021 were Istanbul with 916,000 passengers, followed by Cairo (905,000), London (814,000) and New Delhi (791,000).

The airport currently serves 198 destinations across 93 countries through 84 international airlines — "significantly more" than in 2019 before the pandemic, Dubai Airports said.

The number of flights handled in 2021 rose 28.1 per cent year-on-year to 233,375. The average number of passengers per flight dropped 18.9 per cent year-on-year to 154.

Air cargo volumes in 2021 continued to grow, rising 20 per cent to 2.3 million tonnes.

After the reopening of the final phase of Concourse A at Terminal 3 last year, DXB is operating at full capacity following 20 months of reduced operations because of the pandemic. Dubai World Central, the emirate's second airport, will reopen its passenger terminal in May.

Increased passenger traffic has also buoyed airport retail sales. Dubai Duty Free annual sales surged 40 per cent to Dh3.56 billion ($970 million) in 2021.

It forecasts annual sales will increase 40 per cent to Dh5.1bn in 2022 and plans to recall more of its staff laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic as passenger traffic through the world's busiest international airport continue to grow.