DUBAI, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Dubai Airports Company said in a statment on Tuesday that the world's busiest civil aviation hub recorded its busiest month in July, with more than 8 million international passengers, United Arab Emirates (UAE) state news agency WAM reported.
Monthly statistics also show that passenger numbers in July totalled 8,065,789, up from 7,616,792 last year, representing a 5.9 percent year-on-year increase.
Moreover, the Dubai International Airport (DXB) welcomed 51,120,057 passengers during the first seven months of the year, a 6.2 percent increase compared to 48,124,043 passengers last year.
South America was the fastest growing region in July with traffic surging 59 percent, followed by Asia at 20 percent, with China and Thailand as top contributors to traffic from the region.
The most popular destinations served from DXB by traffic volume were London and Kuwaiti City.
Meanwhile, DXB recorded a surge in cargo with freight totalling 213,258 tons in July, up 5 percent from 203,153 tons last year.
"We have started the second half of the year on a very positive note and with the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha coinciding with the summer rush later this month, the upward trend is expected to remain strong in the third quarter," said Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of Dubai Airports.
Eid al-Adha, known as the Feast of the Sacrifice, marks the end of the spiritual peak of the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The statement, however, did not detail how the flight ban the Saudi-led Arab countries have imposed on Qatari aircraft since June 5 has affected the Dubai airport.
