Dubai reclaims top spot as world’s busiest international airport

Abu Dhabi: Dubai International Airport (DXB) has reclaimed its position as the world’s busiest airport in October as capacity returns, according to global travel data provider OAG.

“Amsterdam Schiphol’s position as the world’s busiest international airport was short-lived as Dubai reclaims the top spot this month as capacity through the Middle East hub returns in earnest,” OAG said in a report.

“Amsterdam moves into second place and Europe’s other big hubs are also catching up with Frankfurt (FRA) moving into 3rd place and London Heathrow (LHR) into 4th,” it added.

According to OAG, Dubai has registered a total of 2,728,723 seats so far in October, while Amsterdam has seen 2,479,152 seats.

Frankfurt (2,187,008), London Heathrow (2,182,740) and Istanbul (2,117,541) were among the five busiest airports in October.

As per the media reports, the Dubai international airport recorded 10.6 million passengers in the first six months of 2021 despite travel restrictions affecting major resource markets during the second quarter.

The United Arab Emirates, which hosts the Expo 2020 and the T20 World Cup, is entering the height of its tourist season.

India continued to be the number one DXB destination in terms of traffic volume in the first half with the number of passengers exceeding 1.9 million, followed by Pakistan, Russia and Egypt.