UAE. Dubai International Airport (DXB) served just under 87 million passengers in 2023, surpassing not only Dubai Airports’ own yearly forecast but also pre-pandemic levels of traffic.
This represents a year-on-year increase of +31.7%, and just under +1% higher than the passenger numbers recorded in 2019 (86.4 million). The numbers were driven by robust growth in the second half of the year, during which the airport served 45.4 million passengers.
The airport operator said the performance marks “the successful and ahead-of-time completion of DXB’s recovery journey, further solidifying its position as the world’s leading airport for international passenger traffic”.
Q3 remained the quarter with the highest traffic since 2019 with 23 million passengers while August, with 7.9 million, was the month with the highest traffic across 2023.
With 7.8 million passengers, December was the busiest month in the fourth quarter, during which the airport welcomed a total of 22.4 million passengers, a year-on-year growth of +13.8%.
DXB connected to 262 destinations across 104 countries through 102 international carriers during the year.
India claimed the top spot among destination countries with traffic totalling 11.9 million passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia (6.7 million) and the UK (5.9 million). Other country markets noted by Dubai Airports include Pakistan (4.2 million), the US (3.6 million), Russia (2.5 million) and Germany (2.5 million).
London retained its position as the top destination city with 3.7 million passengers, followed by Riyadh (2.6 million) and Mumbai (2.5 million).
Flight movements at DXB totalled 416,405 in 2023, the highest recorded at the airport and up +21.3% year-on-year.
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai said: “This exceptional performance underscores Dubai’s emergence as the world’s most popular tourism destination and its pivotal role in global commerce and trade, facilitated by the unmatched connectivity, aviation capacity and logistics infrastructure that has been built steadily over the years.”
He added: “Dubai is setting new benchmarks in passenger experience with excellence levels and innovative technologies that constantly redefine airport services.
“Consistent with the goal of the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 to consolidate Dubai’s status as one of the world’s top three cities for tourism and business over the next decade, the city continues to grow rapidly as a global aviation hub and the world’s preferred gateway for international travellers.”
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said: “I am incredibly proud of everyone at Dubai International, for their dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence, which has propelled us to break many of our own records. 2023 was an exceptional year and is a testament to our unwavering commitment to operational excellence, efficiency, innovation and delivering exemplary guest experience.
“This translated to DXB achieving its highest internal engagement scores – a reflection of our commitment to fostering a collaborative culture, where every contribution is valued and every employee is empowered to their full potential.
“I want to express my gratitude to our dedicated team, the heartbeat of our organisation, and to our partners whose collaborative work was instrumental in achieving these milestones.”
He added: “Looking ahead, we’re renewing our commitment to collectively enhance the airport experience for all our guests by launching significant projects to refurbish facilities at DXB and fortify our infrastructure for future growth.
“DXB remains firmly positioned as a global leader, setting the gold standard for exceptional guest experiences and international aviation excellence.”
Dubai Airports forecasts DXB will receive 88.8 million passengers in 2024, bringing the hub close to its previous all-time high of 89.1 million passengers, set in 2018. ✈
