Dubai International Airport third busiest

Dubai International Airport has skipped past Heathrow and narrowed the gap to the top two of Atlanta and Beijing last year after piling on 11% more passengers, spurred by the expansion of local carrier Emirates and its mammoth fleet of wide-body jets.

Dubai’s tally reached 78m million, an increase of 7.5m, according to figures released yesterday.

While Atlanta Hartfield- Jackson, the main base for Delta Air Lines, remains the busiest airport, its total of 101.5m customers rose only 5.3m.