Dubai International Airport has kept its position as the world’s busiest airport for international passengers for the second year ­after traffic exceeded 78 million in 2015. Aided by 100 airlines that connect the airport to 240 destinations around the world, airport traffic increased by 10.7 per cent last year over the 70.4 million recorded in 2014. Passenger numbers reached 7.05 million in December alone, an increase of 8.5 per cent over the 6.4 million passengers that passed through the airport in August 2014. On average, monthly traffic for the year was at 6.5 million.

Heathrow and Hong Kong are the next biggest international hubs, according to rankings published by industry body Airports Council International last year. But Dubai can’t claim to be the busiest airport in the world, if domestic traffic is counted. That title belongs to the USA’s Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta, Georgia.

 Did You Know??? 

• Air India was originally Tata Airlines in 1932, after which a majority of it was bought over by the Government in World War 2.
• The Subhash Chandra Bose airport in Kolkata was initially called ‘Dum Dum Airport’, until it was renamed after India’s freedom fighter.
• The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is the busiest airport in India.
• Air India One (Flight no. AI 1, always) is a Boeing 747-400 aircraft used to carry the President, the PM and Vice President of India Overseas