Dubai Airports chief tasks return to pre-Covid passenger volumes by 2024

Overseas passenger volumes are projected to rebound to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 by 2024, in line with the chief executive of Dubai Airports.

Once travelling restrictions in its significant long-haul market segments ease, Dubai is preparing to give back capacity quickly and expects a "flood" of passenger traffic, Paul Griffiths said at a summit through the Arabian Travel Industry on Wednesday.

The airport can reopen Terminal 1, which is currently in "suspended animation," within seven days and its own Airbus A380 terminal in three weeks, he said. It could "easily" mobilise its pre-pandemic potential of 95 million to 100 million passengers within per month, he added.

"We're all set and all we happen to be in need of now is the significant easing of restrictions in the key markets to come as soon as that starts to happen, it won't be considered a trickle, it'll be a flood," he explained referring to the UK, Indian subcontinent, US and Australasia, among others. "Almost all of the significant long-haul markets that people serve happen to be under either shut border or travel restrictions."

The airport, which is the home base of long-haul giant Emirates, handled 25.9m travellers in 2020, a 70 % drop on 2019, as the Covid-19 pandemic paralysed the global travel industry.

"The complete aviation industry here is like a coiled spring ready to respond to the slightest easing of restrictions, and mobilising the capacity of the airport terminal and airlines is something we're braced to do," Mr Griffiths said. "The recovery will be incredibly, very rapid indeed - the problem is we have no idea when the tipping level will come."

Before the pandemic, Dubai AIRPORT TERMINAL won authorization to expand its capacity to 120 million travellers annually, up from about 100 million currently, by 2030, the executive said. These programs will be reviewed in the light of the ongoing restoration from the pandemic, a Dubai Airports spokesman later clarified.

The airport cut its workforce by 34 % in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

The global aviation industry is probably the worst type of hit from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that brought travel to a near-standstill as countries shut their borders. In a bid to save cash, airlines have let go staff members, deferred aircraft deliveries and sought government bailouts.