Dubai International Airport (DXB) recorded itsbusiest ever month for passenger traffic in July with over eight million passengers passing through the UAE gateway, according to operator, Dubai Airports.

Passenger numbers in July totalled 8,065,789 compared to 7,616,792 handled in July 2016, a robust growth of 5.9%.

DXB welcomed 51,120,057 passengers during the first seven months of the year, up 6.2% compared to 48,124,043 passengers, recorded during the same period last year.

South America was the fastest growing region in July with traffic surging 59%, followed by Asia at 20% – with China and Thailand as top contributors to traffic from the region, Eastern Europe at 16.3% and Africa which grew by 9.1%.

India retained its position as the top destination country with 1,028,508 passengers, followed by the UK (610,151 passengers), and Saudi Arabia (573,170 passengers).

The most popular destinations served from DXB by traffic volume were London, followed by Kuwait, Mumbai, Bangkok and Riyadh.

Flight movements during July reached 34,181, down 4.7% compared to 35,8864 movements recorded during July 2016.

Year-to-date aircraft movements totalled 240,179 compared to 243,832 movements recorded during the same period last year, a contraction of 1.5%.

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With DXB’s ratio of wide-bodied aircraft continuing to drive airport efficiency, passengers per movement peaked to a record high of 243 during July, up 10.1% compared to 220 in July 2016.

“We have started the second half of the year on a very positive note and with the Islamic festival of Eid Al Adha coinciding with the summer rush later this month, the upward trend is expected to remain strong in the third quarter,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.