Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest airport for international travel, handled some 40 per cent less passenger traffic in the first half of 2021, compared to the same period last year, its chief executive said.

The decline came as more contagious Covid-19 variants cut off the hub’s biggest source markets and continued to clobber the global aviation industry.

However, CEO Paul Griffiths remains optimistic for the crucial east-west transit point as authorities gradually reopen Dubai’s key routes to the Indian subcontinent and Britain.

The 10.6 million passengers that passed through the airport over the past six months “is still very positive,” Griffiths told The Associated Press.