Dubai airport was the world's busiest for international passengers in 2017 for the fourth year running, with 88.2 million travelers, AFP reported Monday (February 5th).
International traffic at the UAE airport increased by 4.6 million passengers or 5.5% compared to the previous year, operator Dubai Airports announced.
A major transit hub situated on transcontinental air routes, Dubai is one of several Gulf-based airports to have experienced prodigious growth in recent years.
Indians continued to dominate the top position with 12.1 million passengers arriving at Dubai airport last year, up 5.4% on 2016, the statement said.
British passengers came in second place with 6.5 million, overtaking Saudis who came in third place with 6.4 million passengers.
The biggest rise was in the number of Russian passengers who soared by 28% to 1.34 million, followed by Chinese travelers who increased by 19.4% to 2.2 million.
The surge came after the UAE relaxed restrictions for both nations, offering citizens from those countries visas on arrival.
The airport recorded 10,000 less flights than the previous year, but planes were filled closer to capacity, with an average of 223 per flight -- an increase of nearly 7%.
Cargo rose by 2.4% to a record 2.65 million tonnes.
