Dubai International Airport, DXB, welcomed 6.4 million passengers in October, according to the monthly traffic report issued today by operator, Dubai Airports.

Passenger traffic at DXB reached 6,420,208 passengers compared to 6,250,810 in the corresponding month last year, an increase of 2.7 percent. The year to date traffic totalled 69,366,094, up 6.8 percent compared to 64,947,684 during the first ten months of 2015.

Eastern Europe led the pack again as the fastest-growing market in October with 25.2 percent growth due to additional capacity and new services launched by a number of airlines, followed by South America with 9.9 percent, Asia with 8.2 percent and the Indian Subcontinent with 6.7 percent. India remained the top destination country with 901,958 passengers, followed by the UK with 493,181 passengers and Saudi Arabia with 349,198 passengers.

London continued to be the top destination city with 301,024 passengers, followed by Doha with 230,561 passengers and Mumbai with 177,590 passengers. Baku, up 108.7 percent, topped the list of cities in terms of percentage growth, followed by Amritsar with 80.9 percent, Calicut with 56.8 percent and Cape Town with 49.3 percent due to increased capacity.

A total of 35,294 flights operated at DXB during the month under review compared to 34,921 movements recorded in October 2015 representing an increase of 1.1 percent. Year to date, 347,463 flights operated at DXB, up 3 percent compared to 337,426 recorded during the same period in 2015. The average number of passengers per flight during the month was 191, up from 187 during October of last year.

October’s freight volumes totalled 236,169 tonnes, up 9.5 percent compared to the 215,714 tonnes handled during the same month last year. The year to date cargo volumes reached 2,127,589 tonnes, up 2.8 percent compared to 2,069,360 tonnes during the same period last year.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said, "Cargo numbers impressed during October with the biggest monthly increase we’ve seen all year. On the passenger side, we remain on track to achieve our forecast for 83 million passengers by year-end. Accordingly, DXB is sure to retain its status as the leading airport worldwide for international passenger traffic."