Dubai airport world’s sixth busiest

Dubai International Airport overtook Singapore’s Changi in the first quarter to become the sixth-busiest airport worldwide, latest industry figures show. The growing number of passengers in Dubai, which reached 9.34 million in the first three months of the year, underlined calls by industry leaders for a new regional traffic control system to bring order to dangerously congested skies over the Gulf, the Emirates News Agency quoted a report by The Nation al newspaper as saying. The latest figures from Airports Council International, a global industry association, mark a passing of the torch to the Gulf by Asian airlines that became a global force in the 1970s but are now losing business to the region. Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries should establish a centralised air traffic control system because the region’s air corridors are becoming dangerously congested, Dubai Airport chief executive Paul Griffiths said. Airlines such as Emirates and Etihad are growing faster than air traffic control systems can handle, said Mr Griffiths, who heads the Dubai government-owned firm that manages the emirate’s airports.

Source: Businessline