India is Dubai International’s Top Destination Country In Q1

Dubai, UAE – April 25, 2012 – India has continued to retain its position as the top destination country in terms of passenger traffic for Dubai International, according to the quarterly traffic report issued by airport operator Dubai Airports on Wednesday.

The number of passengers travelling between India and Dubai increased by 7 per cent in the first quarter of 2012 reaching 1,824,307, compared to 1,704,180 during the same period in 2011. The performance is remarkable considering the fact that the number of airlines and their destinations in India remained unchanged during the period under review, although the number of weekly flights rose by 4.8 per cent, increasing from 349 during the first three months of 2011 to 366 during the first quarter this year. A total of seven airlines connect Dubai to 17 destinations across India.

Mumbai and Delhi remain the biggest destinations in India, ranking among Dubai International’s top 10 destinations in the world for passenger traffic during the first quarter.

Commenting on the report, Dubai Airports’ CEO, Paul Griffiths, said: “The growth in passenger traffic between India and Dubai is a reflection of historical bilateral trade relations between the two countries, and steps that are proactively being taken from both sides to further bolster those ties bode well for the future.

“India is already the single largest contributor of passenger traffic at Dubai International and the conditions are favourable for the growth story to continue. Dubai’s free market policies, top notch tourism, aviation and logistics infrastructure and its proximity to rising economies and mature markets, across which Dubai International connects 220 destinations over six continents through 150 airlines, translate into a great offering that will continue to benefit businesses and travellers in India and the UAE.”

According to a recent report issued by Dubai’s Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, India was Dubai’s top trade partner in 2011, constituting AED 206 billion or 19 per cent of Dubai’s total foreign trade of AED1.1 trillion last year. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has more than 20,000 Indian companies registered.

The emergence of Dubai as a global hub for trade, logistics and hospitality has not only made the emirate a magnet for Indian businesses, it has also become a major attraction for tourists from the subcontinent. The United Nations’ World Tourism Organisation forecasts that more than 50 million Indians will undertake outbound travel by 2020, and signs of this projected growth are already evident in Dubai where according to the Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing more than 700,000 Indian visitors stayed at Dubai hotels in 2011.

Dubai Airports continues to expand its facilities to cope with the growth in passenger numbers. In the first quarter of 2013, Dubai International will open Concourse 3, the world’s first dedicated A380 facility of its kind, taking the airport’s total capacity to 75 million passengers a year. During 2012, Dubai International is expected to welcome 56.5 million passengers.

Dubai Airports, in its latest passenger traffic report including all destinations, announced that March was the third consecutive month that Dubai International recorded passenger numbers exceeding the 4.5 million mark, propelling traffic in the first quarter to 14,261,606, a surge of 16.1 per cent over the same period last year.