The Abu Dhabi Duty Free (ADDF) is planning to expand its complex at the Ghuwaifat Check Post on the Saudi border to meet the growing shopping demands of arriving and departing visitors.

According to ADDF, the expansion plan will continue for the next few months. The Ghuwaifat border duty free outlet opened in 2002, and has received millions of visitors since then.

More than 1.6 million people pass through this area annually.

"This number is rapidly increasing and it has become necessary to begin planning a sizeable expansion," the ADDF said in statement.

The travellers are Arab pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia for the Haj or Umrah, and Arab expatriates going home on their annual holidays, visitors of neighbouring Arab countries who come to the UAE to attend festivals and tourists who pass through the UAE on holiday.

Presently the duty free outlet makes the tiresome land journey easier by providing a place for travellers to rest.