The monthly passenger count at Dubai Airport reached a record monthly high of 7.33 million (+6% Y-o-Y) in January 2016 while the total number of flights grew 4% to 34,600. India remained the highest contributor (14%), followed by Saudi Arabia (8%) and the United Kingdom (7%). North America traffic witnessed the highest growth (c20%, Y-o-Y) due to Emirates Airlines addition of the Orlando route in September 2015, as well as expanding the service to Boston, New York and Seattle. GCC was the runner-up (c12% Y-o-Y), as flights to and from Saudi Arabia saw double-digit growth driven by hiked demand of travel to Jeddah and the Indian subcontinent. On Dubai tourists, the figure rose 3%Y-o-Y during the month with hotel occupancy rates above 87% despite the addition of 4,318 rooms (total nights spent were 2.6 million, average duration of 3.8 days), according to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. (Argaam)