Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Airports welcomed 4.7 million passengers during the third quarter of this year, a rise of 250 per cent compared to the 1.3 million passengers in Q3 2021. Abu Dhabi Airports, the operator of the five airports in the Emirate, released its passenger traffic results report for the third quarter of 2022 on Monday, November 28.
The report 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 1 and September 30. While the five airports reported 10,982,114 passengers by September 30, 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, MD and Chief Executive Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said, “These figures demonstrate 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.”
Third-quarter statistics confirm that Abu Dhabi Airports recorded 49,046 Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) across the five airports, a significant 35 per cent increase from the 36,367 ATMs in Q3 2021 in a clear demonstration of network and passenger growth. These flights were conducted between more than 100 passenger destinations on 23 airlines.
Top destinations
The top five countries in terms of the passenger footfall increase during Q3 were India (933,640), the United Kingdom (291,576), Pakistan (265,793), Saudi Arabia (217,656) and Egypt (197,193).
The busiest destinations served during Q3 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 Airport also released its Q3 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.
