Dubai: Sharjah International Airport said on Tuesday it handled 10.039 million passengers in 2015, representing a 5.5 per cent annual increase compared to the previous year.
The airport, which is the headquarters of the United Arab Emirates’ only listed airline, Air Arabia, handled 9.5 million passengers in 2014, according to an emailed statement.
The number of landings and take-offs rose 1.23 per cent to 71,426 compared to 70,559 a year earlier. The airport also handled 240 thousand tonnes of freight and 19 thousand tonnes of Sea-Air Cargo, the statement said.
In 2015, Air Arabia launched flights to seven destinations from Sharjah International, including to cities in China, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran. Air India Express launched flights to new destinations in India and Pakistani carrier Air Blue started flights to two new cities in Pakistan.
Sharjah International Airport is connected to 70 destinations as of December 31, 2015, the statement said.
The busiest month was in August when 928,897 passengers passed through the airport while November saw the largest growth rate at 17.8 per cent. August and December were the busiest for landings and takeoffs, with a record 6,334, while the highest growth was in September, up 10 per cent.
