Emirates has announced a 75 per cent additional capacity increase between Dubai and Baghdad from the beginning of February, boosting its services to seven flights per week in a move to support Iraqi business segments.

Passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport increased by 7.8 per cent during the first 11 months of the year to reach 46.2mn passengers, according to Dubai Airports.

Dnata, the ground-handling arm of the Emirates Group, has announced an investment outlay of US$70mn for global expansion, of which most of the money will go into purchase of essential Ground Support Equipment (GSE).

In a new report, Boeing forecasted that airlines in the Middle East will need an estimated 2,520 planes, worth around US$450 billion, by 2030.