Dubai airport post record numbers in 2011

Dubai International had another record year in 2011, handling 50.98 million passengers — and increase of 8% over the 47.2 million travellers it welcomed in 2010. In its newly released annual traffic report, Dubai Airports notes that December passenger numbers reached 4.69 million, an increase of 10.2% compared to 4.26 million recorded during the same month in 2010. Aircraft movements totalled 29,519 in December, an increase of 7.7% from the 27,398 registered during the same period last year and 326,317 for the full year up 6.2% versus 2010. Average passenger numbers per passenger aircraft movement remained flat at 184 compared to 185 during 2010 as the airport continues to benefit from the efficiencies offered by the large number of wide-body jets that operate into it. During 2011, 28 new passenger destinations were added while 17 were discontinued boosting overall passenger destinations served by Dubai International to 215 compared to 204 just one year ago. The strongest markets served in terms of total passenger numbers included India, UK, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, Germany and USA. The most significant percentage traffic growth during the year was seen on routes linking Dubai to Eastern Europe ( up 81%), Russia & CIS (up 30.5%) AGGC (up 26.5%) and North America (up 16.1%).