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Abu Dhabi Airports set to welcome 15 million passengers this year

It handles 4.7 million passengers during the third quarter of 2022, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 250 per cent

Abu Dhabi Airports on Monday said it handled 4.7 million passengers during the third quarter of 2022, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 250 per cent.

The airports authority, the operator of the five airports in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, welcomed 1.3 million passengers in the same quarter last year.

It highlights impressive passenger traffic figures across Abu Dhabi International, Al Ain International, Al Bateen Executive, Delma Island and Sir Bani Yas Island airports between July-September 2022 quarter.

While the five airports reported 10,982,114 passengers by September 30, 2022, which is equivalent to passenger traffic in 2020 and 2021 combined, Abu Dhabi Airports expects to close 2022 with an excess of 15 million passengers.

Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, managing director and chief executive officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said these figures are a demonstration of how the aviation industry has recovered remarkably.

"New airlines and air routes continue to be attracted to Abu Dhabi, while new and improved services have played a prominent role in accommodating the expected surging demand head-on. For Abu Dhabi Airports, 2022 has been a year of sustained momentum, maintaining a level of excellence that we will carry forward to fourth quarter," he said.

Third-quarter statistics confirm that 49,046 Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) were recorded across the five airports, a significant 35 per cent increase from the 36,367 ATMs in third quarter of 2021 in a clear demonstration of network and passenger growth. These flights were conducted between more than 100 passenger destinations on 23 airlines.

The top five countries in terms of the passenger footfall increase during the July-September quarter were from India (933,640), the United Kingdom (291,576), Pakistan (265,793), Saudi Arabia (217,656) and Egypt (197,193).

The busiest destinations served during the third quarter included London Heathrow LHR (232,002), Mumbai International (155,294), Delhi International (130,723), Cairo International (118,885) and Kochi International Airport (101,828).

Abu Dhabi Airports also released its third-quarter 2022 cargo traffic results for Abu Dhabi International Airport that show the airport handled 144,083 tonnes of air freight, compared to 182,929 tonnes during the same period in 2021 due to airlines rebalancing the fleet between passenger and cargo aircraft.

— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com