Dubai is also leading 2014 (January-September) in terms of international passengers, with a shade more than 52 million until the end of the same month, compared to 51.7m for Heathrow.

Paul Griffiths, the chief executive of Dubai Airports, said he was confident statistics would show the airport had ended 2014 with more than 70 million passengers, confirming its place as the worlds busiest international hub.

It seals a rise that has been predicted for some time, but remains astonishing despite its inevitability.

Back in 2008, the then chief executive of British Airways, Willie Walsh, warned that Dubais plan was to become the hub that links the worlds biggest aviation market, North America, with its fastest-growing, Asia and this link would bypass Europe altogether.

How Dubai pipped Heathrow

Statistics from Airports Council International; 2020 shows projected figures

Yet the airport had only started appearing among the worlds 30 busiest airports the previous year, in 2007, when 34.3m passengers passed through. As several Middle Eastern airports and airlines competed for a greater slice of the aviation market (see our 2008 story, Middle East special: The new golden age for air travel), Dubai was by then clearly standing out.

In 2008, the airport opened its Emirates Terminal 3, the worlds largest passenger terminal (and the second busiest terminal in the world).

Opened exclusively for Emirates flights, which accounts for around 50 per cent of Dubais passengers, it doubled the airports capacity.

The number of passengers arriving in the city since 2008 has indeed increased twofold, and the rapid expansion shows little sign of slowing down.

See the original post here:

The incredible rise of Dubai as the world's air travel hub