Dubai airport named world's busiest in 2017 for international travel

[Khafee]

Dubai airport named world's busiest in 2017 for international travel
By Sara Shayanian
Feb. 05, 2018

Dubai International Airport kept its spot as the world's busiest airport for international travel in 2017, the airport said Monday. File photo by Philip Lange/Shutterstock.


Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Statistics for 2017 show that, for the fourth consecutive year, Dubai International Airport is the world's busiest airport for international travel -- having serving more than 88 million passengers last year.

Dubai International received an average of 7.35 million passengers per month last year and had record months in January, July and August of 2017, when traffic breached the 8-million passenger mark, the airport said Monday.

"We not only achieved robust growth in traffic to solidify our position as the world's number one international airport, but also delighted our customers with a range of new and exciting services and innovative products," Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said.

The airport began serving six new carriers in 2017, including SalamAir, Badr Airlines and Air Moldova.

India was the single greatest destination country for the airport, with over 12 million passengers traveling there -- up about 1 million from the previous year.
Griffiths said the airport's technology and special events helped it retain the No. 1 spot.
"We made passenger journeys through the facility smoother by reducing waiting times -- by deploying cutting edge technology to track and manage queues in real time, as well as by enabling the use of Emirates ID at smart gates for UAE residents," Griffiths said.

Dubai International Airport expects even more passengers this year.
"With passenger traffic expected to reach 90.3 million in 2018, our focus in the new year will be on the DXB Plus program, which aims to expand the airport's annual capacity to 118 million passengers through process improvements and use of new technology," Griffiths said.

Other top regions, in terms of percentage growth in 2017, were South America, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Dubai overtook London's Heathrow Airport in 2014 and has held the title ever since. Overall, Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport still ranks as the world's busiest airport for all destinations.


https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-...for-international-travel/5111517833027/?nll=1

 

[Lieutenant]

Indeed one of busiest. I had the chance to wander around when visiting Dubai on a business trip on my way back waiting for my flight to board. Frankfurt and Munich airports as well are not that different either.

 

[Joe Shearer]

Indeed one of busiest. I had the chance to wander around when visiting Dubai on a business trip on my way back waiting for my flight to board. Frankfurt and Munich airports as well are not that different either.

I'm most at home at Frankfurt, having been a habitual Lufthansa flyer, and Changi, the outlet point for most eastern trips, along with Heath Row, which was almost a home station in the days that I worked for an Indo-British joint venture, but over time, and after the excitement of buying things wore off, found smaller stations like Manchester or Birmingham, and Schiphol, though big, so friendly, and Schwechat, or even Kastrup in Copenhagen much friendlier and less stressful.

 

[Khafee]

I'm most at home at Frankfurt, having been a habitual Lufthansa flyer, and Changi, the outlet point for most eastern trips, along with Heath Row, which was almost a home station in the days that I worked for an Indo-British joint venture, but over time, and after the excitement of buying things wore off, found smaller stations like Manchester or Birmingham, and Schiphol, though big, so friendly, and Schwechat, or even Kastrup in Copenhagen much friendlier and less stressful.

Stress is the key word here - I prefer smaller airports, where you whizz through.

 

[Scorpion]

Stress is the key word here - I prefer smaller airports, where you whizz through.

I would rather do some shopping and try some of the local cuisine before taking off.