Business & Finance Club - Dubai: Dubai International Airport continues to reflect the results of ongoing investments in the form of Concourse 3 and the new Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International Airport as passenger traffic enjoyed double-digit growth for the 12th month.

In the first six months of this year 22.5 million passengers passing through the airport, a growth of 16.3 per cent over the same period last year, operator Dubai Airports said in a statement.

Last month the airport handled 3,684,192 passengers compared to 3,361,413 in June 2009, a growth of 9.6 per cent.

Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said the growth in passenger traffic and cargo volumes is a sign of an improving economic situation around the world.

"Many major airports around the world are starting to display positive growth following an almost year-long spell of double-digit decrease in traffic."

The average monthly passenger traffic in the first half this year was 3.7 million compared to 3.1 million during the corresponding period in 2009. The year to date daily average passenger throughput at Dubai International has reached 123,000.

In its latest report, industry watchdog International Air Transport Association said global passenger traffic had rebounded, moving one per cent above pre-crisis levels in May.

Experiencing the strongest regional growth worldwide, Middle East traffic grew 17.5 per cent. It expects airlines to post a global profit of $2.5 billion (Dh9.1 billion) in 2010, a reversal of the previous forecast of $2.8 billion in losses.

Upward trend

Meanwhile, cargo in Dubai continued its upward trend in the first half ending with a year to date movement of 1,101,856 tonnes compared to 874,828 tonnes during the same period in 2009, an increase of 26 per cent. Last month also saw the launch of cargo operations at Al Maktoum International.

Dubai airport handled 184,576 tonnes of cargo in June 2010, up 21.2 per cent compared to 152,258 tonnes in June 2009. It marks the ninth consecutive month of double-digit growth in cargo tonnage after a sharp upturn in freight began with the start of the last quarter of 2009.

"Dubai International was the only airport among the major international hubs recording positive growth throughout this period. As the global economic situation continues to improve further, our performance will only grow stronger," Griffiths said.

Griffiths said that in the first half of 2010 over 145 weekly flights were conducted to over 21 destinations in Asia, Europe and Africa by passenger carriers including Emirates and flydubai.