Dubai International (DXB) held on to the top spot of the busiest airport for international flights in January, ahead of major hubs such as London Heathrow, Istanbul Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport.
This is according to the monthly ‘World’s Busiest Airport’ rankings from aviation consultancy OAG, which said the busiest airport for international flights in January 2023 continues to be Dubai with 4.6 million seats, which have increased by one per cent compared to the previous month (December 2022). The data from OAG was calculated using airlines’ international seat capacity and flight frequency in January 2023.
DXB has consistently retained the top spot for being the busiest international airport for several months in a row. “London Heathrow is in second place with 3.5 million seats. Dubai and London Heathrow were in first and second places in 2019,” stated the report.
Out of the top 10 busiest international airports in January 2023, seven were in the top 10 in January 2022. The airports which have seen their rankings rise, bringing them to the top 10 now, are Singapore Changi (from 11th to 4th), Incheon (from 46th to 7th) and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (from 45th to 10th). DXB has also retained its spot as the second busiest ‘global airport’, measuring domestic and international airline capacity, said OAG.
Dubai recorded almost 23.7 million arrivals in 2022, up 89 per cent from 2021, according to data sets released by the Dubai Media Office.
The emirate welcomed over 107,082 passengers on New Year’s Eve alone, with 95,445 travellers arriving through Dubai airports. The international hub’s average daily passenger numbers have risen almost back to pre-pandemic levels on the back of solid recovery throughout 2022. January was exceptionally busy for DXB owing to a combination of factors, including the seasonal influx of visitors, the return of Chinese tourists to the UAE, and Dubai’s emergence as a preferred destination over the past two years.
