Yousef Gamal el-Din | CNBC

Dubai leapfrogged Heathrow to become the world's busiest airport for international passengers in 2014, the head of the Gulf hub said on Monday.

Dubai International airport dealt with about 71m international passengers in 2014, according to chief executive Paul Griffiths, surpassing the 68.1 million that passed through Heathrow. "Heathrow is losing a lot of traffic to Dubai because we're able to cater for the connections that Heathrow no longer has the capacity to service," said Mr Griffiths, referring to how the UK's largest airport is operating at near full capacity on its two runways.

Dubai's surpassing of Heathrow comes as the Airports Commission, a body set up by the British government, seeks to reach conclusions on whether to recommend a new runway at Heathrow or Gatwick, the UK's second largest airport. Both Heathrow and Gatwick on Monday reported record passenger numbers for 2014, and brandished the figures as support for their cases for new capacity. Heathrow dealt with 73.4 million passengers — a combination of domestic and international travelers — last year, up 1.4 per cent compared with 2013, as additional large aircraft flew into the airport. Read MoreLondon airspace recovers from computer failure: Eurocontrol Heathrow highlighted strong traffic growth on routes to emerging markets, including China and Mexico. However, Mr Griffiths, a former head of Gatwick, said that Dubai would continue to grow strongly, adding it was "highly unlikely the UK will regain number one spot for international passengers". When airport capacity is constrained, companies "start to base headquarters overseas because of cost of travel. It strikes at the core of a country's ability to be competitive", he said. "Dubai has got them on the run. Now it's ahead, it's ahead to stay there," said David Bentley, analyst at the Center for Aviation.