Dubai International (DXB) saw 7.2 million customers pass through its doors in September as traffic at the world's busiest international hub rose to 67.5 million for the year.

Traffic was down slightly (-0.2%) in September versus last year due to the fact that Eid Al Adha holidays, a period of high traffic, fell in September 2017.

It was the sixth time this year that DXB's monthly traffic surpassed the 7 million mark, helping finish off the third quarter with 23.8 million customers, up 1%.

Key Facts and Figures

Customers served: 7,197,866 in September (- 0.2%) taking DXB's year to date numbers to 67,521,436 (+1.4%).

Baggage volumes: 6 million bags (+1.12%) passed through the airport's sophisticated 175 km long baggage system during the month.

Waiting Times: Smart Gate technology at DXB helps speed customers through immigration while a state-of-the-art operations centre leverages real-time information to improve service and efficiency, leading to a reduction of 28%* in wait times during September.

Top Destinations

DXB leverages its geocentric location to the connect the world and continues to welcome people from all over the globe.

India remained DXB's top destination country by customer volume, with total traffic reaching 957,748 during the month. The United Kingdom was the was second with 538,199 customers, followed by Saudi Arabia with 454,929 customers. Other markets of note include Australia (256,848), U.S. (252,264 customers) and China (208,822).

The top three cities were London (329,778 customers), Mumbai (199,829) and New Delhi (170,122).

The fastest growing regions were North America, up by 15.2%, Africa up 10.9% and CIS growing 6.8%.

Flights

Flight movements during the month increased to 33,610 (+1.4%). The average number of customers per flight was 221, down marginally (-1.3%).

A total of 306,210 flights have taken-off or landed at DXB (-0.5%) so far this year, bringing the total number of flight movements at DXB per day to 1,125.

Cargo

In September 221,213 tonnes of airfreight was handled at DXB (+1.9%) bringing total cargo tonnage for the year to 1,932,492 (-1.3%).

Contributed by Dubai Airports