Dubai Airport passenger numbers seen rising 90% in 2022 in boon to jet fuel demand

Dubai International Airport's passenger numbers are forecast to rise 90% in 2022 from a year earlier due to the continued lifting of travel restrictions, which is expected to boost demand for jet fuel in the Middle East region.

Dubai International Airport, or DXB, is projected to receive 55.1 million passengers in 2022, up from 29.1 million in 2021, Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, the operator of DXB, said in a Feb. 22 statement.

"With the eagerly anticipated reopening of key markets such as Australasia and the further easing of travel regulations around the world, the outlook for 2022 is very promising and we are in an excellent position to continue to lead the world's air travel sector on the road to recovery," Griffiths said.

DXB was the world's busiest hub for international travel in 2021, with passenger numbers rising 12.7% from 2020, higher than initial forecasts, according to Griffiths.

The recovery in passenger traffic was mainly recorded in the last three months of 2021, with December being the busiest month with 4.5 million passengers.

The airport, which handled 86.4 million in 2019, was closed in March 2020 as the pandemic spread around the world, before gradually beginning to reopen from June, 2020.

Jet fuel demand

S&P Global Platts Analytics expects jet fuel demand in the Middle East region to rise 23% to 380,000 b/d in 2022 from 2021, due to the recovery in global travel.

"Demand for jet fuel in the Middle East region was on the rise with countries gradually lifting travel bans until the advent of omicron variant," Platts Analytics said in a Feb. 11 report.

"Looking into Q1, with the gradual subside of omicron variant, potential changes in travel policies and border controls could give a gentle push to near-term demand in the jet fuel market."

Platts Analytics is projecting jet fuel demand in the first quarter of 2022 to rise 33% year on year to 351,000 b/d, but will still be 26% lower than Q1 2019 levels.

Dubai International Airport is home to Emirates, the world's biggest carrier for long-haul flights in 2019.

Emirates carried 6.1 million passengers between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2021, up 319% from a year-earlier period.