Dubai International passenger traffic rose again in August
There was a 23.8 per cent rise in passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport in August when compared with the corresponding month in 2012.
New figures released by Dubai Airports - the group that runs the aviation facility - showed that just under six million people flew into the city during the four-week period.
Already the world's second busiest airport, Dubai International appears to be on an unstoppable roll and it seems to be just a matter of time before it usurps Heathrow at the top of the global standings.
This is the ninth consecutive month that the five million passenger mark has been surpassed and year-to-date traffic is up by 16.4 per cent when compared with 2012.
August is usually a slack period for the UAE in terms of tourism numbers, but the timing of this year's Eid celebrations worked in favour of Dubai's hotel owners.
According to Dubai Airports, there was a significant rise in travellers from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, while western Europe, India and Africa also proved to be strong markets.
There was impressive growth in the number of visitors from eastern Europe, Australasia and the Asia-Pacific region too.
Chief executive officer at Dubai Airports Paul Griffiths said the results were 'very satisfying'.
'While five million passengers per month has become a standard at Dubai International, it's worth noting that in August we were barely two Airbus A380s short of hitting the six million passenger figure,' he remarked.
Some 31,198 aircraft landed at the airport in August, which was an 11.5 per cent increase on 2012. This figure is only likely to grow, as more and more airlines are expected to introduce new services to Dubai in the coming months.
Earlier this year, Mr Griffiths said he expected the facility to welcome more than 65.4 million passengers in 2013 and this number will rise sharply as the site continues to expand in the next few years.
That said, nearby Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central will start offering passenger services for the first time in October 2013, which will take some of the strain away from the main airport.