Dubai International Airport, DXB, has welcomed 36.9 million passengers during the first five months of 2018 according to the monthly traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports today.

DXB welcomed a total of 36,943,613 passengers during the first five months of 2018 compared to 36,969,594 passengers recorded during the same period last year, a marginal contraction of 0.1 percent, largely due to the impact of Ramadan which fell in May this year. Passenger traffic for the past 12 months totalled 88,216,118, up 2.6 percent compared to 85,974,096 recorded during the corresponding period in 2016-2017.

In May, passenger numbers totalled 6,589,264 compared to 6,850,052 recorded during the same month last year, a contraction of 3.8 percent due to lower volumes traditionally experienced during Ramadan. Average monthly traffic volumes have however remained high in 2018 at 7.4 million passengers.

Eastern Europe was the fastest growing region in May with 19.4 percent growth, thanks to robust growth on routes to Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania and the launch of flydubai’s new services to Krakow in Poland. The Commonwealth of Independent States was the second fastest region with 11.3 percent, followed by Africa 9.9 percent – where Nigeria and Egypt recorded strong growth during the month.

India was the top destination country with a total of 1,041,258 passengers, followed by Saudi Arabia 495,242, and the UK 429,893, while top cities for passenger volumes were London with 262,913 passengers, Mumbai 213,056, and Jeddah 179,756.

Flight movements during the month under review totalled 32,620 compared to 34,544 during May 2017, a drop of 5.6 percent. The hub’s efficiency increased as the average number of passengers per flight was 209 during May, up 2 percent compared to 205 during the same month last year. Year to date flight numbers reached 168.979, down 3.5 percent compared to 175,157 flight movements recorded during the first five months last year.

DXB handled a total of 221,363 tonnes of cargo during May, down 4.9 percent compared to 232,884 tonnes during the same month last year. Year to date cargo at the end of May totalled 1,053,549 compared to 1,087,243 tonnes, down 3.1 percent.