Sharjah: Sharjah International Airport recorded a 12.5 per cent increase in passenger traffic in the first nine months of this year marking its busiest nine months ever, the airport said in a statement on Wednesday.
It added that a total of 5.6 million passengers passed through the airport from January to September 2012 compared to 4.9 million in the same period last year. The year to date aircraft movements, meanwhile, increased 3.9 per cent in the period, to reach 48,874 compared to 47,040 in the same period a year earlier.
The airport handled 332,836 tons of freight in the same period. The robust passenger traffic growth is being driven by the addition of new routes and frequencies by budget carrier Air Arabia, besides additional services by existing airlines, according to Ghanem Al Hajri, Chairman of Sharjah International Airport.
“Sharjah International Airport became the preferred travelling option of many because of the efficiency of procedures, excellent services, and its strategic location,” he said in a statement, adding that ongoing projects carried out by the airport will “contribute to stimulate the companies operating at Sharjah airport and will increase the capacity of the airport to handle more than 8 million passengers per year”.
