Abu Dhabi airport sees 4.4% rise in Nov passenger traffic

Abu Dhabi International Airport recorded a 4.4 per cent year-on-year increase in passenger traffic during the month of November, airport operator Abu Dhabi Airports revealed on Monday.

The airport received over 1.86 million passengers last month, compared to 1.78 million in November 2015.

The growth was supported by a strong rise in traffic to and from Saudi Arabia, which increased by 43.5 per cent in November.

Terminal 3 also recorded a 38.6 per cent year-on-year increase in passenger traffic to reach 1.31 million, a statement said.

Meanwhile total aircraft movements in November also rose by 1.7 per cent year-on-year to reach 14,272.

Abu Dhabi Airports also revealed that year-to-date passenger traffic had risen by 5.3 per cent compared to the previous year.

Over 22.2 million passengers have travelled through the UAE capital’s airport so far this year, up from 21.1 million during the same period in 2015.

However year to date aircraft movements dipped slightly, by 0.5 per cent, to 157,582.

In terms of cargo, although volumes grew by 1.3 per cent in November to 71,193 metric tonnes, year to date volumes fell by 3.5 per cent to 733,742 metric tonnes.

The Abu Dhabi airport is currently undergoing a multi-billion dollar re-development and expansion project designed to increase its overall capacity to more than 45 million passengers per year.

As part of this redevelopment, a second runway and a third terminal have been completed.

It is currently in the process of building its new Midfield Terminal Building, which will be the largest architectural structure in Abu Dhabi when complete.

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