(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The airport's passenger numbers boosted by 6.1 per cent to 70.5 million in 2014 and pushed the Heathrow down to the second position as London's top airport handled 68.1 million international travellers last year.
"This historic milestone is the culmination of over five decades of double-digit average growth"," Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airports, said in a statement.
"The shared goal is to make Dubai a global centre of aviation and we are nearing that goal thanks to an open skies policy, a friendly business environment, Dubai's growing attractiveness as a centre for trade, commerce and tourism, growing network connectivity due to the rapid expansion of Emirates and flydubai and timely investment in aviation infrastructure," Shaikh Ahmed said.
Dubai Airports chief executive officer Paul Griffiths said: "Much like 2014, 2015 promises to be another eventful year featuring more record passenger numbers and facility upgrades including the opening of Concourse D which will boost Dubai International's capacity to 90 million."
Griffiths forecast 79 million people will travel through Dubai's airport this year. "We will have more flights connecting more people to more destinations. And we will be fully focused on rolling out technology, new F&B concepts and service initiatives that further enhance the passenger experience," he added.
Dubai International's achievement in becoming the world's busiest international airport in 2014 demonstrates the huge global demand for travel to and through the UAE city and shows off the exceptional management team skills that powered through the 80-day runway works to ensure that the airport stays ahead of its regional and international competition, according to a senior aviation analyst.
"As it stands, Dubai International has become the world's true and only nexus for aviation and its meteoric rise to the summit means that it will stay there for years to come. Rival airports that have languished for investment and expansion, most notably like London Heathrow, should look at Dubai International Airport and see how things can and should be done," Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research, told Khaleej Times.
With the runway works completed, this allows for even more flight frequencies and better airport utilisation. Incumbents like Emirates and flydubai, both of whom are arguably the world's fastest growing airlines, will reap the benefit of an improved Dubai International Airport with added frequency capacity to grow even more and open up more city connections as their fleets of A380, 777s, 777X and 737s expands to meet that demand.
For the full year 2014, the top market for growth in passenger volumes was Western Europe, closely followed by the Subcontinent, Asia and North America.
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