Total passengers at Dubai International Airport surpassed the 4 million mark for the second time in the airport’s 50-year history in October, according to data released by Dubai Airports.
The airport handled a total of 4,013,127 passengers up 14.8% from the 3,496,366 recorded during October last year, said the Dubai Airports’ Traffic Statistics for October.
The year to date passenger numbers total 38,851,488 compared to the 33,565,105 recorded in the corresponding period in 2009, an increase of 15.7%, it added.

The largest increases in total passenger numbers during October were recorded on routes to and from Western Europe (+103,695 passengers), Indian subcontinent (+96,611 passengers), Asia (+74,322), and AGCC (+69,007).
The largest percentage passenger traffic growth was seen on routes to and from Eastern Europe (306%), Russia (28%) and Asia (28%).
The air freight volumes too rose in October, up 9.2% to 202,984 tonnes compared to 185,868 tonnes recorded during the same period last year.
Dubai Airports also released its 2011 traffic forecast which projected that passenger numbers will reach 52.2 million next year, up 13.1% from the 46.1 million passengers expected to pass through the airport in 2010.
Growth will be driven by a projected 10% increase in Emirates passenger numbers and an anticipated doubling of flydubai traffic in 2011 as both airlines continue to expand their respective fleets and networks.