Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi Airport up 32 per cent

Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi Airport up 32 per cent
BY A STAFF REPORTER KHALEEJ TIMES 17 September 2007

ABU DHABI — Abu Dhabi International Airport handled a total of 707,671 passengers in August 2007, a 32 per cent rise over the 536,201 passengers in August 2006.

The number of aircraft movements increased 10 per cent during the same period, rising from 6,156 in August 2006 to 6,785.

Cargo volume increased to 27,015 tonnes in August 2007 from 23,601 tonnes last year, a growth of 14.5 per cent. Abu Dhabi International Airport continues to achieve high levels of growth, with the passenger growth in August exceeding the 27 per cent growth seen in the first half of 2007, a particularly impressive result in the busiest time of the year for the airport.

The number of aircraft grew especially strongly in August driven by the new services added during the year by Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the

United Arab Emirates and new airlines Oman Air which commenced services in May 2007 and Ethiopian Airlines which commenced services in July 2007.

ADAC has officially taken over the operation and management of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain international Airports, as of 28 September 2006. Under its mandate will be the re-development and expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport, which includes the new midfield terminal designed to increase the overall capacity of the airport to 20 million passengers by 2010.