Top 3 GCC airports add 7.7m passengers

The three major Gulf aviation hubs – Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi – added nearly 7.7 million passengers last year driven by the strength of their home carriers, the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (Capa) said. Average passenger growth of combined all three airports was around 10.5 per cent – better than the global average of nine per cent. Dubai International Airport – the busiest airport in the Middle East by a big margin – received 51 million passengers last year, recording growth rate of eight per cent in 2011. It expects higher growth rate this year of approximately 11 per cent with 56.5 million passengers passing through the airport. Helped by expansions of Emirates and flydubai airlines, the number of passenger passing through Dubai airport jumped 14 per cent to 4.9 million in January this year, the airport said in a recent statement. Emirates, which received 15 aircraft last year, added five new routes last year and seven this year so far. It also intends to expand to Southeast Asia and Europe regions. The low-cost flydubai is also aiming high with new routes following receiving 10 aircraft last year and seven more this year. “Since its launch in Jun-2009, flydubai has become a mainstay at Dubai Airport, complementing Emirates’ network with services to a number of secondary, and often thinner, destinations. It now accounts for almost 10 per cent of capacity by seats at Dubai,” Capa said. Abu Dhabi International Airport handed 12.4 million passengers last year, an increase of 13.9 per cent over the previous year with new services from three carriers – Cathay Pacific, Virgin Australia and Czech Airlines – and eight new destinations. Abu Dhabi Airports Company is forecasting another strong year for Abu Dhabi airport in 2012 with an aim to increase traffic to 14 million passengers this year, growth of around 12 per cent. Capa added. The respected think-tank said that between 2007 and 2011, the three regional aviation hubs added almost 31 million passengers, growing from 50.7 million passengers to 81.5 million passengers.