Dubai, UAE – September 25, 2011 – Dubai International passenger numbers topped four million for the sixth time in eight months according to traffic statistics released today by Dubai Airports.

August traffic numbers reveal that Dubai International handled a total of 4,019,230 passengers in August compared to 3,987,184 in August 2010, a year on year increase of 0.8 per cent. Year to date traffic reached 33,311,157 up 8 per cent compared to 30,857,624 in the same period in 2010.

The largest regional traffic growth in August in terms of total passenger numbers was recorded on routes to and from AGCC (+42,385), North America (+26,465), the Indian Subcontinent (+14,363) and Russia & CIS (+10,143). Passenger numbers on Middle Eastern routes were down (-65,000) due to the affects of Ramadan along with ongoing instability in some destinations in the region. Western European traffic, which usually offsets the drop in Middle Eastern traffic during the month of Ramadan, remained flat (+102) resulting in a modest year-on-year percentage increase in traffic.  On a country level, the largest gains were seen on traffic to and from Saudi Arabia (+52,407), USA (+26,735), Bangladesh (+16,156), Thailand (+11,482) and Ethiopia (+10,549).

August air freight volumes dropped 7.9 per cent as Dubai International handled 182,781 tonnes of freight compared to 198,543 tonnes during the same period in 2010. Year to date Dubai International has handled a total of 1,433,270 tonnes of cargo, compared to 1,451,048 tonnes during the same period last year, a slight contraction of 1.2 per cent. Air freight traffic, which is widely considered as a leading indicator of economic well-being, has been affected by economic uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe.

Aircraft movements during August totalled 25,845 up 2.6 per cent from the 25,202 posted during the same period last year. Year to date aircraft movements numbered 212,383 up 5.5 per cent from 201,362 posted during the first eight months of 2010.

“It’s clear four million passengers per month is the new standard at Dubai International,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. “We are on track to meet our projection for 51 million passengers by year end.”