UAE. The Iraq war failed to dampen traffic growth through Dubai International airport. Dubai Civil Aviation (DCA) reported that the total number of passengers reached 4.3m, a +13% increase over 2002 for the January to March period. Flight movements were up +16% to 40,393.
The increase in passenger numbers was accompanied by growth in Dubai Duty Free sales, which rose by +17% in the first quarter to US$82m, setting yet another milestone for the retail operation.
January witnessed the highest volume of passengers with a rise of +26% while March witnessed a negative trend of -5.7%.
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the DCA and chairman of Emirates commented: “The first quarter passenger movement was boosted by strong growth in the months of January and February. In 2002 we had 16 million passengers throughput and this year we hope to have around 18 million.
“Dubai Cargo Village and Dubai Duty Free have shown substantial growth. With this in mind we have put into action our requirement for the next phase of expansion. With the support of the government of Dubai it is our aim to be among the top 20 airports in the near future.”
Dubai’s expansion plans include the new T3, Concourse 2 and Concourse 3 for passengers, a Mega Cargo Terminal and upgrades to T2, all currently underway.
