Now just second best! Dubai soars past Heathrow to become world's busiest international airport... and it expects a record 79 MILLION passengers in 2015

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Dubai has overtaken London’s Heathrow as the world’s busiest international airport as the Gulf city emerges as a major hub for long-haul flights between Asia and the West.

Dubai International Airport said 70.5 million international passengers streamed through its terminals last year, a six per cent increase over the 66.4 million travellers it handled in 2013.

Now that it has passed Heathrow for the first time on a full-year basis, the world’s top international travel hub said it expects a further surge in traveller numbers in 2015.

Dubai International Airport said 70.5 million international passengers streamed through its terminals last year

Dubai International has seen steady growth while emerging as a major hub for long-haul flights

Heathrow narrowly lost its crown, reporting 68.1 million international passengers in 2014. But it remains ahead of Dubai in terms of overall passengers when domestic flights are factored in.

With domestic flights included Heathrow topped out at 73.4 million passengers in 2014, about three million more than Dubai.

But Heathrow has struggled to grow and is competing with Gatwick Airport for the right to build a new runway.

A Heathrow spokeswoman said: ‘Britain has benefited from being home to the world's largest port or airport for the last 350 years. But lack of capacity at Heathrow means we have inevitably lost our crown to Dubai.’

Dubai International CEO Paul Griffiths said the airport will handle a record 79 million passengers in 2015

Dubai International's annual capacity will increase to 90 million passengers when a new concourse opens

Dubai International Airport’s surge in traffic reflects its rapid expansion and the efforts of luxury Gulf carriers Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways to seize a significant portion of travel between the West, Asia and Australasia, and lure customers with the introduction of wider-bodied aircraft, including the world’s largest fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbo jets.

Dubai serves as the base for Emirates, the largest carrier in the Middle East.

Flights to and from Western Europe saw the biggest passenger growth in Dubai, followed closely by destinations in the Indian subcontinent, Asia and North America.

In a statement Dubai Airports chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said: ‘This historic milestone is the culmination of over five decades of double-digit average growth.

‘The shared goal is to make Dubai a global centre of aviation and we are nearing that goal.’

Heathrow has struggled to grow and is competing with Gatwick Airport for the right to build a new runway

When domestic flights are factored in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains the busiest

Paul Griffiths, the airport’s CEO, said Dubai International will handle a record 79 million passengers in 2015. The airport’s traffic grew last year even though it had to redirect flights to the city’s second airport, Al-Maktoum International, while it overhauled its side-by-side runways for nearly three months.

Al-Maktoum International opened in 2013 and will have a capacity of 120 million travellers when completed in 2022.

Dubai International plans to boost its annual capacity to 90 million passengers this year with the opening of a new hall for arrivals and departures as part of a $7.8bn expansion plan (approximately £5bn).

The airport and Emirates are owned by Dubai’s government.

While Dubai is tops for international travel, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains the busiest passenger airport overall.