UAE tourism and transport update Jan-Oct 2016

Passenger traffic at the Dubai International Airport (DXB) rose to 69.4 million in Jan-Oct 2016, up by 6.8% y/y. In October alone, 6.4mn passengers passed through DXB, up by 2.7% y/y. Passenger traffic is expected to reach 83 million at DXB by year end, according to Dubai Airports.

Eastern Europe was the fastest growing region in October 2016, up by 25.2% y/y, followed by South America (9.9% y/y) and Asia (8.2% y/y). India remained DXB’s biggest market in October with a total of 901,958 passengers. UK ranked second with 493,181 passengers followed by Saudi Arabia with 349,198 passengers. London topped the list of destination cities, followed by Doha, Mumbai and Baku.

Separately, freight volumes at DXB increased by 9.4% y/y in Oct 2016 to 236,000 tons. Year to date volumes totaled 2,127,420 tons, up by 2.8% over Jan-Oct 2015.

Passenger traffic at the Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) rose to 20.4 million in Jan-Oct 2016, up by 5.3% y/y. In October alone, 1.9mn passengers passed through AUH, slightly down by -1.0% y/y. Passenger traffic to and from Bombay rose by 19.0% y/y in October 2016, maintaining its position as the top destination, with 62,415 passengers. Passengers to and from Doha totalled 59,535, up by 8.0% y/y, while several destinations such as London and Bangkok have also seen a rise in passenger traffic for the same period. Passenger traffic at AUH is expected to double, exceeding 40 million passengers by 2020, according to Abu Dhabi Airports.

Freight volumes at AUH increased by 6.7% y/y in October to 73,649 tons. Year to date volumes totalled 662,549 tons, down by -4.0% over Jan-Oct 2015.

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