Dubai International airport recorded a 7.3 per cent increase in passengers in October.

The airport handled a total of 4,307,817 passengers in October despite economic uncertainty and reduced consumer confidence in Europe and the US. In October 2010, the airport handled 4,013,127 passengers.

During the first 10 months of 2011, Dubai airport has recorded 41,855,561 passengers, which equates to a 7.7 per cent increase over the same period in 2010.

The largest increases in passenger traffic came from Russia and the CIS countries, GCC, North America and South America. The reduction of passengers on Middle Eastern routes continued into October due to the ongoing civil unrest in some markets.

Dubai International is aiming to have 51 million passengers by the end of 2011 (MEED 4:5:11).The airport recorded total aircraft movements of 28,463, a 7.2 per cent increase on 2010. The airport also handled 197,841 tonnes of freight in October, a 2.5 per cent dip on the same period in 2010. In the first 10 months of 2011, Dubai International has handled 1,808,239 tonnes of freight, a reduction of 1.8 per cent.

“New routes, additional frequencies and extra capacity continue to drive passenger traffic growth at the Dubai hub,” says Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of Dubai Airports. “And we continue to break records. In October, Dubai International achieved yet another milestone by passing the 50 million passenger mark over a 12-month period for the first time.”