Abu Dhabi airport records highest ever passenger traffic in August

Abu Dhabi International Airport recorded its highest ever monthly passenger traffic in August 2015, welcoming over 2.25 million travellers last month, Abu Dhabi Airports announced on Sunday.

Passenger numbers were up 17.4 per cent compared to over 1.92 million in August 2014.

Aircraft movements in August 2015 also increased 14.1 per cent to 15,277, a statement said.

The top five routes from Abu Dhabi International Airport were London, Bangkok, Doha, Manila, and Bombay. They accounted for 15 per cent of all traffic.

Meanwhile cargo activity also rose to 70,857 metric tons last month, up 7 per cent over the same period last year.

Chief operations officer at Abu Dhabi Airports Ahmad Al Haddabi said: “For the second time ever we witnessed over two million passengers traveling through AUH in a single month. This spike in traffic is attributable to many residents returning home to the United Arab Emirates from vacations, ahead of the beginning of the school year.

“Abu Dhabi is also increasingly being seen as a preferred tourism and business destination and this contributes directly to the growth we’re seeing year on year.”

Abu Dhabi Airports has been implementing several initiatives to cope with the increased passenger and aircraft traffic, he said.

The airport is currently undergoing a multi-billion dollar redevelopment and expansion aimed to increase capacity to more than 45 million passengers per year.

“We are also paying extra attention to the peak travel season when passenger flow reaches its heights and the airport welcomes on average 70,000 passenger on a daily basis,” added Al Haddabi.

Abu Dhabi airport, which welcomed two million travellers in July, reported a 17.2 per cent growth in passenger traffic during the first six months of this year.

Visitor numbers rose to 11.11 million from 9.48 million in H1 2014 while aircraft movements increased by 15 per cent to reach 84,938. Cargo volumes rose 9.6 per cent to 414,203 tonnes.