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Passengers leap 24% at Abu Dhabi Airport

Aircraft movements rise 14.9%; cargo up 9.6%

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Airports has reported a 23.9 per cnet increase in passenger traffic during the month of September compared to the same month in 2013.

Within the next few years, over 30 million passengers are expected to use Abu Dhabi International Airport as their origin, destination or transit point for international and domestic flights. — Wam

The airport’s passenger statistics showed that 1,696,651 passengers used the airport during the month, growing from 1,369,051 in September 2013. Aircraft movements increased to 13,070 in September 2014, recording a 14.9 per cent growth when compared with 11,379 movements logged in the same month last year.

Cargo activity handling rose to 67,881 tonnes, representing a 9.6 per cent increase against the previous September’s 61,913 tonnes.

Eng Ahmad Al Haddabi, chief operations officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said: “Once again, Abu Dhabi International Airport delivered a strong performance in passenger traffic with significant growth compared with last year. This was mainly due to the end of the summer holidays that coincided with the Hajj season, which occurred in September this year. Increased activity by Etihad Airways’ new partner airlines airberlin, Jet Airways and Air Seychelles also had a positive impact.”

The top five routes from Abu Dhabi International Airport during September were Doha, London, Bangkok, Manila and Bombay. The top five routes accounted for 15 per cent of all traffic.

Eng Al Haddabi added: “Abu Dhabi International Airport is set to become one of the fastest-growing aviation hubs in the world and this is supported by the numbers. Total passenger movements during the first nine months of the year [January to September] were 14,803,324, representing an increase of 20.9 per cent against the same period of the year 2013.”

Within the next few years, over 30 million passengers are expected to use Abu Dhabi International Airport as their origin, destination or transit point for international and domestic flights.

The Midfield Terminal Complex, Abu Dhabi Airports’ iconic expansion project, is being constructed to handle increasing passenger traffic.

— business@khaleejtimes.com