Dubai International Q1 air passenger traffic down 68% on year

Dubai — Dubai International, the world's busiest airport for international travel in 2019, handled 5.75 million passengers in the first quarter, down 68% year on year due to continued fallout from COVID-19 restrictions, denting jet fuel demand.

Dubai Airports, which manages the facility, said April 28 the first quarter of 2020 was "unaffected by the pandemic related suspension of operations by airlines and airports worldwide towards the end of March".

Flight movements during the first quarter totaled 50,176, down 38% from a year earlier.

Cargo volumes, however, grew 3.2% during the first quarter to 550,811 mt.

"Cargo, which has shown more resilience compared to the passenger segment throughout the pandemic, continued its strong recovery despite the reduction in belly-hold capacity," Dubai Airports said.

Middle East jet fuel demand, including that of the UAE, is unlikely to recover to its 2019 level until 2024, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics.

Regional jet fuel demand, which used to account for 80% of the total kerosene consumption, will recover by 46% to 325,000 b/d in 2021 but will still be 32% lower than 2019, according to Platts Analytics.