Business & Finance Club - Dubai: Dubai International Airport surpassed the four-million passenger mark for the first time ever, as it reported its 10th consecutive month of double-digit cargo growth for July.

The airport handled 4.31 million passengers in July, compared to 3.77 million in July 2009, a year-on-year increase of 14.3 per cent.

This year, to date traffic has reached 26.86 million, up 16 per cent compared to 23.17 million in the corresponding period in 2009. The closest the airport has previously come to the four million mark was in March 2010 when the monthly traffic reached 3.97 million.

The largest regional traffic growth in July was recorded in Eastern Europe (up by 219 per cent), Asia (up by 34 per cent) and Russia and CIS (up by 29 per cent). The highest passenger volumes were recorded in the Western European sector, the AGCC and the Indian Subcontinent, driven by capacity increases and new routes launched by Emirates airline to Tokyo, Amsterdam, Prague and Madrid.

Dubai International Airport handled 197,845 tonnes of freight in July, compared to 160,289 tonnes during the same period in 2009, an increase of 23.5 per cent. This year to date, the airport has handled 1.30 million tonnes of cargo, up 25.5 per cent, compared to 1.03 million tonnes during the same period last year.

“This is an important milestone that reflects the consistent growth we have seen in recent years. Compared to July 2009, Dubai International airport handled over half a million more passengers and we surpassed the highest ever monthly traffic total by over 300,000 passengers,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports.

“As we’re experiencing such high levels of growth consistently, we will be extending our ‘Summer Mission’ programme, which we have been operating for three years now, and deploying additional service personnel across the airport to make sure that our service remains at a world class level,” said Griffiths.

“This is particularly important during the holy month of Ramadan, which began on August 11, and will culminate in the peak of the year, which is the festival of Eid Al Fitr, in September.”