Dubai Airports sees rise in traffic after H1 drop

Dubai Airports reported a 41% drop in H1 passenger traffic, while expressing confidence that fewer travel restrictions and coming events will stoke rising activity through year-end. The number of people passing through the world’s largest airport by international traffic fell to 10.6m, as the airport served 68% of its pre-pandemic destinations, the state-owned company said Wednesday. With Expo 2020 Dubai starting in October after a one-year delay and the Dubai Airshow set for November, “we are gearing up for a massive in-rush of visitors to the United Arab Emirates in the next couple of months,” CEO Paul Griffiths said. “I think the rebound in traffic for the second half will be much greater than we’ve seen in the first half,” he said, adding that the biggest demand will come from point-to-point traffic “particularly the U.K.” <br/>