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Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi airport hits record

A two-fold increase in daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Mumbai puts the Indian city in the list of top five destinations for the first time.

Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport for the month of May 2014 recorded a 27.4 per cent increase, the highest in the airports' history, with a total of 1,633,700 passengers using the airport compared to 1,282,185 in May, 2013.

Aircraft movements also increased by 15.8 per cent, registering 12,931 compared with 11,162 movements logged in May 2013, while cargo handling rose to 66,944 tonnes, a 24.5 per cent increase when compared to 53,788 tonnes in May 2013.

Manila was the most popular route in May, with traffic increasing by 21 per cent due to a boost in Philippine Airlines’ operations, followed by Doha, which increased by 27 per cent, affected by an increase in Etihad flights to Qatar. Bangkok was the third most popular destination, followed by London, which recorded an increase of 12 per cent, and then Mumbai, which grew sharply by 87 per cent due to Etihad and Jet Airways’ double daily flights, becoming one of the top five destinations for the first time.

“Passenger numbers have continued to increase over the past few years, making the airport one of the fastest growing aviation hubs in the world. New code-share partnerships between Etihad and various airlines have positively impacted our traffic numbers and we were excited to receive the first Aegean Airways flight on the 28th of May. It is also important to note that India, as one of our main traffic drivers, recorded a significant increase of 60% this month due to an increase of Jet Airways flights to 65 flights per week, with a rise in the number of destinations to 6 from 3 last year,” said Ahmad Al Haddabi, Chief Operations Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports.