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India has retained its position as the biggest outbound market for airlines operating in Dubai, with passenger traffic for the first quarter of the year reaching more than 1.3 million, Dubai International said on Wednesday.
The second-biggest market during the period was Pakistan, with 454,294 customers, followed by Bangladesh (221,027) and Russia (196,890).
The airport also observed strong traffic to other destinations like Egypt and Turkey. Among the destination cities, the top three markets were New Delhi, with 262,035 passengers, followed by Dhaka (178,593) and Addis Ababa (169,715).
The UAE last week imposed a travel ban on India after the Asian state recorded the highest daily cases of coronavirus infections.
Passenger traffic
Overall, Dubai International recorded a total of 5.75 million passengers during the three-month period, down by nearly 70 percent compared to a year ago.
“While passenger numbers for the first quarter remained significantly below the monthly volumes we handled before March 2020, in the context of the current global situation, they are very encouraging and reflect the consolidation phase in our business recovery,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.
“Despite the ongoing challenges to air travel as the world continues to battle against the impact of the global pandemic, as an important hub, [Dubai International] will continue to play its role of enabling mobility and connectivity and contribute to the much-needed social and economic recovery globally.”
Flight movements at the airport also dropped by 38.3 percent to 50,176.
However, the cargo segment continued to post positive performance, with a total of 550,811 tonnes of airfreight handled during the first three months of the year, up by 3.2 percent compared to the same period last year.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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