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Dubai supplants Heathrow as world's busiest airport for international travel

More than 70 million travelers passed through Dubai International Airport last year.

By Kate Stanton

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- The world's busiest airport for international travel is no longer London's Heathrow.

Dubai International Airport, in the United Arab Emirates, claimed the top spot on Tuesday, with 70.5 million passengers last year.

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That's a 6.1 percent increase from 2013 and about 2.4 million more people than Heathrow.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of Dubai Airports, called the news a "historic milestone."

"The shared goal is to make Dubai a global centre of aviation," he said in a statement.

A Heathrow spokeswoman told BBC News that the airport is working to expand capacity.

"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," the Heathrow spokeswoman said.

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