Sharjah Airport handled 4.2 million passengers in 2020, down 69%

The number of passengers that passed through the Sharjah Airport in 2020 reached 4.2 million, a decrease of 69 per cent from the 13.6 million passengers it handled the previous year as a result of extensive airport closure and reduced services due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Sharjah Airport Authority added on Monday that aircraft movement (regular and irregular) recorded more than 33,200 flights.

Meanwhile, cargo traffic through the airport reached 99,600 tons, and the airport achieved an increase in the volume of non-scheduled flights by 635.9 per cent year-on-year.

The growth rate in the non-scheduled cargo movement increased by 54.6 per cent compared to the previous year.

على الرغم من التحديات التي فرضتها جائحة كورونا، وصل عدد المسافرين عبر مطار الشارقة خلال العام 2020 إلى 4.2 مليون مسافر، فيما سجلت حركة الطائرات أكثر من 33.2 ألف رحلة، ووصلت حركة الشحن الجوي البحري عبر المطار إلى 99.6 ألف طن@sharjahairport pic.twitter.com/f5rjIm5S16

— sharjahmedia (@sharjahmedia) March 8, 2021

The figures were released in an annual management meeting of the authority on Monday held at the Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park where the team reviewed the plans and programmes in place for the airport.

The authority said it has worked to continue implementing its Emiratisation strategy in 2020. The percentage of Emiratis in leadership positions reached approximately 90 per cent, and in supervisory positions, reached 71 per cent.

In 2020, the airport completed its East Expansion project which extends across 4,000 square metres. It is an integrated building spread across two floors and which includes four new gates to facilitate the movement of passengers.

The project will allow the airport to handle 20 million passengers a year by 2025.

More recently, Nairobi-based cargo airline, Astral Aviation, said that it had begun operating flights to Sharjah. The Sharjah Airport Authority said that there will be two flights per week from Nairobi in Kenya to Sharjah, using Boeing 767 aircraft.

Read: Kenyan cargo airline, Astral Aviation, begins flights to Sharjah