Dubai Airports CEO expects boost from Chinese arrivals in Q4

Dubai's main airport expects a surge in its Q4 traffic, due in part to a rebound in passengers from China, the CEO of operator Dubai Airports said on Wednesday, as the Gulf hub remains on track to surpass pre-pandemic numbers for the full year. Dubai International recorded 22.9m passengers in Q3, the highest quarterly traffic since 2019, and annual passenger traffic is forecast to reach 86.8m in 2023, revised upwards from 85m passengers in August. "One of our biggest markets in the Far East is obviously China and that has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels ... we do think in Q4 they will start to bounce back," Paul Griffiths told Reuters at the Dubai Air Show. Total passenger traffic at DXB, among the world's busiest, for the first nine months of 2023 stood at 64.5m, up 39.3% compared to the prior year period, and 1% above the same period in 2019. Griffiths said the resurgence of demand is a reaction to limited supply as many airlines cut down on their fleets during the pandemic. "There has been a shortage of capacity, a shortage of manpower and therefore the supply side of the aviation industry has run well below where it was pre-pandemic," he said. Buoyed by a swift economic rebound post-COVID 19, Dubai, the tourism and trade hub of the Middle East, has benefited from its safe haven status, with relaxed residency rules amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.<br/>