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Abu Dhabi airport posts 12.2pc growth in traffic

As per the monthly traffic figures released by the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) here on Wednesday, cargo movements showed a strong 19.4 per cent increase in May, while the airport recorded a 12.4 per cent lift in aircraft movements during the same period. The airport has been recording double digit growth for the past couple of months both in passenger traffic and cargo movements despite the recessionary trends. According to the traffic figures released by IATA on Tuesday, the aviation industry as a whole is on a recovery path globally and this has given added reason for the ADAC officials to be optimistic about the growth prospects in the coming months.

The top five destinations together recorded a passenger total of 159,609, or 19.2 per cent of all passengers travelling through Abu Dhabi International Airport. Manila took the top spot for the first time, followed by London in second place and Doha in third. Bangkok, affected by the recent political unrest, dropped to fourth place, leaving Bahrain in fifth place.

“We continue to see double digit growth at Abu Dhabi International Airport caused mainly by the increase of traffic to major regions, where North America becomes the number one region with a growth of 104 per cent in May 2010 compared with its profile of the same period last year. Africa stood second with 58 per cent increase and Europe takes the third place with 16 per cent increase. Far East occupied the fourth position with 13 per cent increase and Middle East and Indian subcontinent both came in fifth with each recording a 12 per cent increase. We do expect such growth to continue as we continue to add new routes and airlines to Abu Dhabi International,” a Press statement said quoting Ahmed Al Haddabi, Senior Vice-President of Airport Operations, ADAC.

The IATA had stated that the Middle Eastern carriers recorded a 17.5 per cent growth in passenger traffic in May. The region’s carriers continue to post strong growth with connecting traffic through their hubs, although the pace of growth has dropped from the over 20 per cent increases recorded earlier in the year. IATA had also disclosed that Middle East airlines posted a similar growth of 38.6 per cent in air freight growth.

ramavarman@khaleejtimes.com