Dubai International Airport was honoured as the Airport of the Year 2007 Award at the Air Cargo Week's World Cargo Awards held in Munich, Germany, reported Middle East news portal AmeInfo.com.

"It is an honour to be recognised in the international arena, especially considering that we were pitted against established cargo hubs such as Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Frankfurt," said Ali Jallaf, director of Dubai Cargo Village (DCV) on receiving the award.

Mr Jallaf noted that DCV has won awards for Dubai International Airport in the past decade for its performance and growth. The constantly rising volume of cargo and the corresponding development of infrastructure at Dubai Cargo Village were credited for winning DIA the honour, he said.

Also contributing to its success was Dubai International Airport's ability to maintain double-digit growth in the first half of 2007 - with US$82 billion in investment to match.

The criteria set for the thousands of participating international cargo industry voters revolved around infrastructure development, turnaround time, future strategy for growth as well as the volume of investment in cargo services.

Nominations for the awards, which celebrate excellence and achievement in the air cargo industry, were received from around the world. The awards ceremony was the culmination of the Air Cargo Europe/Transport Logistics exhibition in Munich, an event that was attended by over 40,000 visitors from the industry.