Dubai remains the world's busiest international airport hub

Dubai International Airport has recorded a 12.7% increase in annual passenger traffic in 2021, beating its own fourth quarter forecasts. These figures have seen it retain its title as the world's busiest international hub for eight consecutive years.

The airport, which is home to the Emirates airline, handled 29.1 million passengers last year, exceeding the forecast of 28.7 million. The figures have exceeded the airport's expectations of a greater impact of COVID-19 on flights. "It has been the most difficult two years in our history, there has been no event that has been as widespread as the pandemic," said Dubai Airpots chief executive Paul Griffiths, citing the strong performance. 

The Emirates airport serves 198 destinations in 93 countries through 84 international airlines, figures that, according to its managers, are significantly higher than in 2019, before the pandemic. Among the most in-demand countries in 2021, India remains the top destination with more than 4 million travellers, followed by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Air traffic has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic since it began, but the number of flights has gradually increased. So much so that the last quarter of last year was the busiest, handling 11.8 million passengers, 77% more than in the previous quarter. Following the trend of these numbers, Dubai Airports projects that the number of passengers passing through this international airport by the end of this year will double to 57 million. 

However, this is expected to reopen key markets and COVID-19 protection measures are expected to be lowered as the pandemic decelerates. "Australia with 2.8 million customers a year is now open for visitors, which is very good news," Griffiths added.

Against this forward-looking backdrop, Dubai's second hub, Al-Maktoum International Airport, or DWC, is scheduled to reopen its passenger terminal for commercial flights on 4 May, which has been closed since the pandemic began. "It is very likely that we will continue to operate capacity in the passenger terminal building over the summer because I think demand will suggest that it is appropriate," Griffiths explained. 

But in addition to the problems arising from the pandemic, there are other current conflicts that could have repercussions, and the Ukraine crisis is one of them. According to Griffiths, the impact of this conflict on Dubai Airports is expected to be a "very slight" direct effect, as Ukraine is a small market for the airport, but there is concern that an escalation could have an indirect impact on travel. "Hopefully things will calm down because, as we recover from the longest period of restriction on people's mobility worldwide, the last thing we need is another crisis to deal with," added Dubai Airpots' chief executive.

And, along with this, there are also concerns about rising oil prices that will result in higher fuel costs for airlines, while they are also dealing with the impact caused by the pandemic.

Despite the latter circumstances, which they consider to have a "slight impact" on UAE aviation, Dubai Airports is hopeful that the trend towards full normality can increase sales and provide more jobs, including all those who were laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic.