DUBAI, March 2 (Reuters) - Passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport, which overtook London's Heathrow last year as the world's busiest airport for international passenger business, rose 7.7 percent to a record in January, the airport's operator said on Monday.

Passenger numbers climbed to 6.90 million in January from 6.40 million a year earlier, Dubai Airports said in a statement. Eastern European routes saw the fastest expansion of traffic, followed by North America.

Freight volume fell 5.5 percent from a year earlier to 186,230 tonnes because of last year's shift of dedicated cargo operations to Dubai's other international airport, Al Maktoum International.

(Reporting by Nadia Saleem; Editing by Andrew Torchia)