Dubai is strategically located within four hours of flight radius of approximately one/third of the world’s population. Its location between the East and the West has set it up perfectly to be an international travel hub. With its world-leading aviation infrastructure, Dubai has been able to position itself as a global travel hub. Currently, Dubai is ranked as the fourth most visited city in the world. Dubai International Airport (DXB) is the busiest airport in the world, outside of the USA, and was named as the world’s best airport at the 2021 ‘Business Traveller Middle East’ awards. DXB also holds the distinction of being the world’s busiest in terms of international passenger traffic, having carried over 25 million international passengers in 2020.
DBX serves 78 international airlines and operates flights to over 245 airports in 238 cities across 103 countries. Dubai’s airlines, Emirates, carried over 15 million passengers in 2020, helping it earn the distinction of being the largest international airline that year. Emirates has a fleet of 262 aircrafts that serves 152 destinations. Emirates was ranked 4th in the 2023 ‘Skytrax World Airline’ awards.
Dubai International Airport saw its passenger capacity reach 7.3 million passengers in March 2023, which is closest to the 7.8 million passengers it saw in January 2020, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
“The aviation sector plays a crucial role in connecting Dubai with the rest of the world and facilitating the influx of tourists and visitors. In the true spirit of collaboration, the aviation sector continues to contribute tremendously to the city’s success,” said Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism.
Dubai is by far the most-served international airport from India. Presently, Dubai offers direct flights to 22 cities in India, while Dubai has recently announced the introduction of Emirates premium economy on its India routes, further augmenting the travel experience. Simultaneously, Air India has expanded its Dubai capacity. In fact, Air India now runs 10 flights a day between Delhi and Dubai, and six flights per day for the Mumbai-Dubai route.
Emirates has recently announced the introduction of the premium economy feature on flights to India. Starting from the 29th of October 2023, passengers flying to and from Mumbai and Bengaluru will have the option to fly on Emirates premium economy. Premium Economy is already available on flights that are bound to New York, San Francisco, Houston, London, Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch, Melbourne and Singapore, with India being the shining addition to the covetable list considering that the flight that are bound to New York, San Francisco, Houston, London, Sydney, Auckland, Christchurch, Melbourne and Singapore, with India being the shining addition to the covetable list considering that the flights that will operate from India are not even long-distance ones.
According to booking data, approximately 6.8 million roundtrip passengers flew between India and Dubai last year. Mumbai-Dubai was the biggest market followed by Delhi, Kochi, Kozhikode and Chennai.
According to the Airports Authority of India, the number of passengers flying between India and Dubai grew by 16% in 2021. This growth is expected to continue in the years to come.
