In 2025, Dubai International Airport hopes to handle its first 90 million passengers. The number is anticipated as more international airlines begin operating flights to the main hub in the Gulf and as its domestic airlines begin receiving wide-body aircraft deliveries.
The airport anticipates 93.8 million passengers annually in 2025, exceeding 89.1 million in 2018, its busiest year ever. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, told The National on Wednesday during the Dubai Airshow, “hopefully we’ll get the magic 100 million number not long after.”
It plans to handle 88.2 million passengers in the upcoming year.
“These figures may turn out to be conservative, especially when we consider the effects of the additional aircraft over the coming years,” Mr. Griffiths stated.
According to the forecast, in 2025, the Dubai hub would be in a direct competition with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, which is currently the busiest airport in the world when both domestic and international passengers are combined. In 2022, 93.7 million travelers were registered.
With a revised estimate of 86.8 million travelers in 2023, Dubai Airports stated on Wednesday that it anticipates surpassing pre-pandemic levels, largely due to robust growth in the first three quarters of the year. From an earlier estimate of 85 million passengers in August, it updated its forecast upward. 86.4 million passengers passed through the busiest hub in the world for international travel in
International tourists are anticipated to pour into the city as a result of the emirate’s upcoming flurry of international events.
These include the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Conference on Aviation and Alternative Fuels on November 20, the UN climate summit Cop28 at the end of the month, and the Dubai Airshow, which began on November 13.
During the Dubai Airshow on Monday, Emirates and its sister airline flydubai placed orders for 125 wide-body aircraft, valued at $63 billion at list prices. Flydubai has added its first wide-body aircraft to its all-Boeing fleet of 737 narrow-bodies with an order for thirty Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Plans for airport expansion
DXB can currently handle 100 million passengers annually, but with the use of new technology, an expansion and renovation of the current infrastructure, and more effective use of space, Dubai Airports said, the airport’s capacity can reach 120 million.
According to Mr. Griffiths, flydubai is growing, adding more retail space, seating areas, and lounges, and Dubai Airports is expanding Terminal 2 to accommodate the expected growth and get ready for the incoming jet deliveries.
“Since the pandemic ended, Flydubai has expanded by 66%, putting pressure on Terminal 2 and necessitating a significant uplift,” he stated.
Concourse C at Terminal 3 will have more passenger capacity, and Concourse E is scheduled to be