Dubai International airport (DXB) has surpassed pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels in the third quarter of 2022 leading to the airport revising its annual forecast by another one million passengers. The airport now expects a higher surge in the final three months of the year.
Paul Griffith, CEO, Dubai International Airport, said: “The annual forecast at Dubai International, or DXB, is more than 64 million. The airport saw 18.5 million passengers in the third quarter of this year, up from 17.8 million during the first quarter of 2020 prior to and at the dawn of the pandemic.”
In the second half of 2022, Dubai airport reported an average monthly traffic exceeding the six million mark through the third quarter. The airport recorded 18.5 million passengers in Q3 of 2022 and cross the quarterly pre-pandemic levels for the first time since 2020. DXB recorded 17.8 million passengers in the first quarter of 2020, just before the pandemic outbreak. The Q3 of 2021 recorded 6.7 million passenger traffic.
According to Griffith, the majority of the Dubai traffic is from traditional markets of India, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. He added that the end of COVID-19 testing requirements and people’s eagerness to travel have contributed to the increase.
Apart from India, Dubai’s main airport logged 3.2 million passengers from the UK up to September 2022, making it the third largest share of traffic numbers.
The FIFA World Cup currently taking place in Qatar, says Griffiths, is expected to add 494,000 passengers to Al Maktoum International Airport, or DWC, during the Q4 of 2022. Currently, 120 daily flights are operational from DWC for FIFA fans to shuttle between matches in Doha and Dubai.
“Recovery is very much on the agenda and has been a phenomenon here ever since the end of the pandemic,” Griffiths said.
In the first nine months of 2022, the airport recorded passenger footfalls of 46 million, almost 72% of pre-pandemic levels. The figure is far from the pre-pandemic milestone of 86.4 million in annual traffic logged by the airport in 2019. However, the airport authorities are positive to reach the annual pre-pandemic mark by 2023.
