REUTERS: Dubai Airports, operator of what is billed as the world’s largest airport when it opens in 2012, forecast on Tuesday that international passenger traffic would grow 7.2 percent on average over the next 10 years.

It also projected passenger numbers will reach 98.5 million by 2020 while cargo volumes are expected to top 4.1 million tonnes.

In March, Dubai Airports said the opening of the passenger terminal at the new Al Maktoum airport, estimated to cost around $34 billion, would be further delayed till next year.

The airport, which was slated to open in March 2011, will have expected passenger capacity of up to 160 million people a year. Cargo operations began in 2010.

It is part of the Dubai World Central transport hub which the Gulf Arab emirate is developing to underpin efforts to become a key Mideast logistics centre.