21 April 2017
Dubai airport maintains top position for second consecutive year, with more than 80 million global flyers

Cleofe Maceda
Dubai: It’s official: Dubai Airport is still the busiest aviation hub in the world in terms of international passengers.

A report released by the Airports Council International (ACI), the trade association of the world’s airports, on Wednesday showed that Dubai logged more than 83 million passengers in 2016, making it the world’s number one hub for global passengers.

The number of flyers passing through Dubai’s terminals went up by 7.2 per cent in 2016 compared to a year earlier.

Dubai, which also secured the top position last year, is ranked first in terms of preliminary international passenger traffic, edging out strong rivals London Heathrow, Hong Kong and Singapore airports.  

“As a major connection point for long-haul international flights, the [Dubai airport is] the world’s busiest in terms of international passengers,” ACI said in its report.

In terms of total passenger traffic, however, Dubai emerged in the third position, just behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Beijing International Airport, which recorded more than 104 million and 94 million flyers, respectively, during the same period.

For highest total air cargo traffic, the crown went to Hong Kong airport, with Dubai securing the fifth position, up one place from a year earlier. 

© Gulf News 2017