Dubai Airports has posted doubledigit growth in both cargo and passenger traffic in February. Dubai Airports Cargo and Logistics handled a total of 171,707 tonnes of freight in February 2010, up 26.7 per cent over the same month in 2009.

The year-to-date cargo traffic has reached 343,160 tonnes as compared to 265,870 tonnes in the first two months in 2009 – an upsurge of 29 per cent.

Rising shippers’ confidence and the re-stocking of inventories worldwide is influencing freight volumes that are already buoyed by increasing economic activity, particularly in Asia, the airport authority said.

Passenger traffic rose 22.6 per cent in February, with the airport handling a total of 3,640,323 passengers compared to 2,969,569 passengers during the same month in 2009.

The strong growth in February follows record monthly passenger traffic of over 3.8 million in January, bringing the year-to-date passenger throughput to 7,501,848 – up 19.7 per cent over the corresponding period in 2009.