UAE: India remains DXB's top destination country with 3 million passenger traffic

With 3 million passengers, India continued to be the most popular destination for travellers using DXB.

First Published May 9, 2023, 5:26 PM IST | Last Updated May 9, 2023, 5:26 PM IST

Dubai: With more than 21.2 million passengers passing through Dubai International Airport (DXB) in the first quarter of the year, traffic almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. This comes after DXB's impressive performance the year before when the airport welcomed 66 million travellers and continued to hold the title of the busiest international hub for the ninth consecutive year.

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With 3 million passengers, India continued to be the most popular destination for travellers using DXB, followed by Saudi Arabia (1.6 million), the UK (1.4 million), and Pakistan (1 million). The US (840,000), Russia (729,000), and Germany (628,000) are further nations.

In comparison to the first quarter of 2022, passenger traffic increased by 55.8% in the first three months of 2023. This is the first time the average monthly traffic has surpassed 7 million passengers since the fourth quarter of 2019. With 7.3 million passengers, March had the highest monthly traffic since January 2020 (7.8 million passengers), making it the busiest month in the first quarter.

Currently, 89 scheduled international carriers connect DXB to 234 destinations in 99 different nations. London (890,000) came in first on the list of top cities for passenger numbers, followed by Mumbai (645,000), Jeddah (641,000), and Riyadh (604,000).

Meanwhile, airfares are predicted to rise even further before the summer vacation to popular destinations including the UK, Egypt, the GCC, and the Indian subcontinent. Travel industry executives said that since more individuals are planning their trips well in advance, airfares to Asia, the Middle East, and the UK started to rise in February and March.

They noted that tickets to well-known locations like London are anticipated to increase during the biggest travel periods of the summer, particularly during Eid Al Adha, which will be at the end of June.

Air India increased its frequency on the UAE route over the summer, which temporarily brought stability for a few days.

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