DUBAI: A record 92.3 million passengers travelled through Dubai`s international airport last year, its operator said on Thursday, extending a post-pandemic tear that exemplifies the city`s economic boom.

The figure surpassed the previous high of 89.1 million in 2018, Dubai Airports said, despite regional tensions caused by the Gaza war and last April`s unprecedented floods that severely disrupted flights.

The United Arab Emirates city, located between Asia, Europe and Africa, has now been ranked as the world`s busiest international air hub for a decade.Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said the airport was still profiting from Dubai`s bounce-back from Covid-19, when the city rapidly reopened its doors and the flag-carrying airline, Emirates, was quick to re-activate its fleet.

`We were like a coiled spring ready to respond as soon as the market recovered,` Griffiths said in an interview. `So we`ve been able to get back to capacity, we`ve been able to encourage new airlines and we`ve seen double-digit growth from most sectors during the course of last year as a result of that.

The trade, tourism and businesscentre is also witnessing record real-estate prices and soaring population growth, spurred by the UAE`s efforts to diversify its economy away from oil.

More than a quarter of Dubai`s GDP in 2023 27 percent came from its aviation sector, including Emirates and Dubai Airports, according to an economic impact report published by the two stateowned entities in October.

`It`s a symbiotic relationship between the health of the aviation sector and the health of the city`s economy,` Griffiths said.

In 2023, Dubai airport`s passen-ger numbers outstripped pre-pandemic 2019. A record performance in the first half of 2024 was followed by a strong finish with 8.2 million travellers in December, the busiest month of the year.

New airport `a game-changer` Dubai is profiting from the slow recovery of competitor airlines and their home airports, which are being hampered by the slow turnaround of new aircraft orders, Griffiths said.

`If you take a lot of aircraft out of your fleet and you retire whole fleets, the ability to respond surely is by the acquisition of new aircraftand we know that the supply challenges from Boeing and Airbus have been very significant,` he said.

`If you were to go out and order a new aircraft now, the lead time is probably the longest it`s ever been.

`And the difficulties with resuscitating existing fleets and having retired aircraft andpilots,those are alleonspiringtocreate ashortage of supply, which means that airlines and airportsthat dohave the capacity are soaking up excess demand.

In a statement, Dubai`s ruler and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh MohammedbinRashidAlMaktoum said the airport was targeting 400international destinations, up from 272 currently.

Dubai, now expecting competition from a major new airport being built in Riyadh, in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, is also planning a $35 billion expansion and relocation to Al Maktoum International, on the city`s outskirts.

`That will be a game-changer for the city and for the world because it will give us the capacity we need to be able to push on with our increases in the flights and the fleet enlargements of both (budget offshoot) flydubai and Emirates,` Griffiths said.-AFP