Dubai airport passenger traffic up 10% to 4.88 million

Passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport last month rose 10 per cent to 4.88 million, boosted by increasing flows from western Europe and India, the Dubai Airports said today.

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Passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport rose 10 per cent from a year earlier in November to 4.88 million people, boosted by increasing flows from western Europe and India, Dubai Airports said on Monday.

Traffic in the first 11 months of this year climbed 13.1 per cent to 52.36 million passengers. The airport says it is the world's fourth-busiest hub for international passengers.

A new section of the airport to handle Airbus A380 superjumbo planes is due to open in early 2013, increasing the airport's annual capacity to 75 million passengers from 60 million.

Dubai International handled 200,060 tonnes of cargo in November, up 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, while freight volume in the first 11 months increased 3.6 per cent to 2.08 million tonnes.

In addition to Dubai International, the emirate aims by the end of next year to open its new Al Maktoum International airport for passenger traffic.

That airport, which began cargo operations two years ago, is designed eventually to cater to 160 million passengers.

Dubai officials say the emirate's booming tourism industry and its central location between continents as a hub for airlines justify the expansion schemes. They are planning to build huge retail, hotel and entertainment projects to cater to big rises in foreign visitors projected over the next decade.

* Reuters