Dubai airport retains top international spot in 2017

DUBAI: Dubai airport was the world’s busiest for international passengers in 2017 for the fourth year running, with 88.2 million travellers, the United Arab Emirates’ state news agency WAM said Monday.

International traffic at the UAE airport increased by 4.6 million passengers compared to the previous year, WAM said, despite a laptop ban temporarily imposed on its long-haul flights to the United States.

A major transit hub situated on transcontinental air routes, Dubai is one of several Gulf-based airports to have experienced prodigious growth in recent years.

Dubai airport, the base for UAE carrier Emirates, surpassed London’s Heathrow airport in terms of international passengers in 2014 and has maintained its lead since.

The United States in March last year imposed a ban on laptops and tablet computers inside the cabin on inbound flights from several Middle Eastern and North African countries including the United Arab Emirates.

But Emirates airline in July announced it had won an exemption from the ban for flights from its Dubai hub after implementing new security measures.