Abu Dhabi airport expects 85,000 passengers to travel this week

With the start of the summer season and the Eid holidays coming up, Abu Dhabi Airports has warned travellers of a busy period during the next two weeks.

The company, which operates the Abu Dhabi International Airport, said that it anticipates around 85,000 passengers to depart from the airport this week since the school holidays have begun.

“Similar numbers are expected over the Eid Holiday, with July 6, 10 and 11 forecast to be the busiest days,” it said in a statement.

Also read: UAE announces week-long Eid Al Fitr break for the public sector

“Abu Dhabi Airports advises passengers that e-registration for the newly launched ‘Smart Travel’ initiative at Abu Dhabi International Airport is now compulsory. We therefore urge all travellers to arrive to the airport at least three hours before their flight departure time during this busy season.

“We have set up e-registration counters in the check-in areas so that guests can register as they wait to check-in.”

The Smart Travel initiative was launched in March this year and incudes self-check-in and baggage drop facilities, automated passport control gates equipped with biometric verification functions and facial recognition technology and smart boarding gates.

It will replace the previously used e-gates and is expected to decrease airport processing time for passengers by up to 70 per cent, according to officials.

The start of the summer season is particularly busy for UAE airports due to the rush to expatriates returning to their home countries or travelling abroad for the holidays.

Last week, Dubai airport authorities also warned travellers to reach the airport early as it expects nearly two million passengers over the two weekends of June 30 and July 7.

Over 900,000 passengers are anticipated to pass through the Dubai International Airport between June 30 and July 3 and a similar volume of travellers is forecast on the following weekend from July 7-10 around Eid Al Fitr, it said.

Airport operator Dubai Airports said it will deploy additional resources across the airport to ease passenger flow through the facility.

Read more here: Dubai airport expects nearly 2m passengers over two weekends