Third Abu Dhabi airport terminal prepares to open

Dubai: Abu Dhabi International Airport is set to open its third terminal this summer that will be exclusively used by national carrier Etihad and boost the airport's passenger handling capacity by 70 per cent.

"All the elements are in place and Terminal 3 will open in the next few months," a spokesman for Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) told Gulf News.

The UAE capital is expanding its airport capacity at a cost of $6.8 billion as part of its efforts to become a major tourist hub.

In another three years, the Midfield Terminal Complex will increase the annual passenger handling capacity at the airport to 20 million, which can be doubled later.

With the opening of Terminal 3, Abu Dhabi will add 5,000 square metres of airport retail space to the existing 5,000 square metres.

Abu Dhabi recently signed a letter of intent with travel retail operator Duty Free Shopper to run the capital's duty free facilities. The agreement is intended to be for three years.

The two terminals are operating close to their capacity of seven million passengers a year. The growing Etihad route network is providing a boost to passenger traffic.

Abu Dhabi International Airport saw an increase of 32.7 per cent in its passenger traffic in February and its aircraft movements grew by 16.9 per cent, ADAC said.

The airport handled 648,301 passengers in Feb-ruary compared with 488,453 for the same month in 2007. Cargo volumes for February increased 20.1 per cent to 27,341 tonnes.

"The rapid and sustained growth of Etihad Airways continues to be a key factor in the increase of traffic, particularly when assessing the increased frequencies and nine destinations added to the network in the last 12 months," said Rudy Vercelli, ADAC's newly appointed CEO.

"In addition, it has also been noted that traffic coming to Abu Dhabi for business conferences and exhibitions is increasing rapidly and is having a clear effect on the profile of passengers through our airports," Vercelli said.