Dubai airport Q1 passenger traffic falls 2.2% to 22.2m

Dubai International Airport’s Q1 passenger traffic fell 2.2% to 22.2m compared to the same period a year earlier, which operator Dubai Airports partly blamed on the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX. The drop in quarterly passenger figures was largely due to a 3 percent reduction in flights, some caused by the 737 MAX grounding, and the timing of the Easter break this year, Dubai Airports said on Sunday. Flydubai, which is based at the airport, has grounded all of its 14 MAX’s, forcing it to cancel dozens of flights. Other airlines that use the airport have grounded the plane. The airport’s main airline, Emirates, does not operate the MAX. The average number of monthly passengers was 7.41m compared to 7.42m a year earlier. Dubai airport, which usually posts monthly traffic figures, has seen growth slow over the past year.<br/>