Dubai Airport Passenger Traffic Climbs in June on Ramadan Effect
By Alexander Cornwell, Reuters | Jul. 25, 2018
The number of passengers travelling through Dubai International Airport rose 11.7 percent in June, rebounding from declines in April and May, largely because of the impact of the holy month of Ramadan on traffic.
The world's busiest airport for international travellers handled 6.80 million passengers last month compared with 6.08 million a year earlier, its operator said on Wednesday.
The sharp increase was largely due to the timing of Ramadan, when passenger traffic typically slows, Dubai Airports said in a statement. Ramadan fell mostly in June 2017 but was more evenly split between May and June this year.
For the six months to June 30, passenger traffic was up 1.6 percent to 43.74 million. Dubai Airports has previously forecast a full-year growth rate of 2.4 percent for 2018.
Dubai airport, the hub of airlines Emirates and flydubai, has seen passenger traffic slow this year after 15 years of strong increases.
Cargo handled at the airport fell 0.5 percent to 214,612 tonnes in June and in the first half was down 2.7 percent to 1.27 million tonnes. Another airport which is under development, Al Maktoum International, now handles a significant amount of Dubai's air cargo.