Reuters/Dubai

Dubai International Airport's passenger numbers rose 9.5% in August, its operator said on Wednesday, as capacity rose and residents returned from Eid holidays through one of the world's busiest airports by international traffic.

Traffic rose to 7.28mn passengers from 6.65mn a year earlier, the airport operator said, taking the total so far this year to 52.3mn, up 12.4%.

Growth in traffic was propelled by inbound traffic of residents returning from late-July Eid holidays, as well as by increased capacity to regions of North America, Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States by airlines Emirates and flydubai.

The heaviest traffic was on routes to the Indian subcontinent and the United Kingdom.

Cargo volumes rose 5.3% in August to 207,427 tonnes.

Some cargo operations have moved to Al Maktoum International - Dubai World Central (DWC).