Abu Dhabi International Passenger Traffic Up 22.5% in April

Passenger traffic at the Abu Dhabi International Airport surpassed 1.6 million in April, up 22.5 per cent from the same period last year, according to airport authorities.

Figures showed that passenger traffic rose to 1,620,324 visitors in April 2014, a significant increase from 1,515,407 the previous year.

Aircraft movements totalled 12,420 compared to 10,673 in the corresponding period last year.

In addition, cargo activity amounted to 60,059 tonnes, up 16.6 per cent compared to the 51,511 tonnes recorded in 2013.

Abu Dhabi International Airport’s top five destinations were Manila, Bangkok, London, Heathrow, Jeddah, Doha.

“Abu Dhabi Airports is on track to handle this significant increase in air traffic through the upgrade and expansion of our facilities,” said Ahmad Al Haddabi, chief operations officer at Abu Dhabi Airports.

The Abu Dhabi International Airport is set to undergo a major Dhs1.65 billion upgrade after receiving the go-ahead from the Abu Dhabi government recently.

The projects include a tunnel under the southern runway, nine new aircraft stands and an automated passenger mobility system.

The new aircraft stands will be able to accommodate the Airbus A380 and other wide-body aircrafts, the numbers of which are increasing considerably at the airport.