Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Airport reported a 15.1 per cent increase in passenger traffic during the first quarter of 2014 at Abu Dhabi International Airport, compared to the corresponding period in 2013.
In a statement issued by the airport on Monday, figures showed that a total of 4,560,169 passengers used Abu Dhabi International Airport in the first quarter of this year, whereas 3,963,458 passengers used it during the same period last year.
Aircraft movements rose to 35,844, representing an 11.8 per cent growth compared with 32,062 movements last year. Cargo activity also rose to 183,344 tonnes handled at the three terminals, marking a 15.8 per cent increase over the first quarter of 2013.
The report indicated that March 2014 witnessed a 15.2 per cent increase in passenger numbers compared to the corresponding period last year, to register 1,584,022 passengers passing through the airport during the month.
Ahmad Al Haddabi, chief operations officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said passenger traffic of over 4.5 million marks a record quarterly performance.
“It is clear that businesses and tourists alike increasingly see Abu Dhabi both as a destination of choice, and as a logical transit point on longer journeys,” he said.
“This, in turn, is further evidence of the airport’s rapidly growing status as a major global transportation hub, and shows why our capacity enhancement programme remains a crucial and complex initiative to enable passengers to have the best possible travel experience.”
The top five routes from the airport during March were Manila, Bangkok, Jeddah, Doha, and London Heathrow.
Over 30 million passengers are expected to use Abu Dhabi International Airport over the next few years as their origin, destination, or transit point.
The Midfield Terminal Complex is currently under construction in order to facilitate the airport’s ability to handle an increasing amount of passengers.
The complex will include passenger and cargo facilities, duty free shops, and restaurants.
The multi-billion dollar redevelopment and expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport is designed to increase the overall capacity of the airport to more than 40 million passengers per year.
