Dubai International Airport, busiest for world travel, sees record 92.3m passengers in 2024

Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, saw a record 92.3m passengers pass through its terminals in 2024, officials announced Thursday. The result cements Dubai’s bounce-back from the coronavirus pandemic, surpassing the previous record set in 2018 for the first time. Today, the airport feels like it’s bursting at the seams with aircraft movements and crowds moving through its cavernous terminals. Authorities plan to move operations in 2032 to the city-state’s second airport after a nearly $35b upgrade. Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, first announced the new passenger figure on X. The state-owned airport is home to the long-haul carrier Emirates, which powers the network of state-owned and state-linked businesses known as “Dubai Inc.” “Dubai is the airport of the world ... and a new world in the aviation sector,” Sheikh Mohammed wrote. Speaking with The Associated Press, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths pointed to the fact that the airport had served more than 700m passengers over the last decade — closing in on twice the population of the United States.<br/>