Double-digit passenger growth in July for Abu Dhabi

AE. Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) today announced a +10.3% year-on-year rise in July passenger numbers to 923,124.

The strong passenger growth came in spite of the economic downturn, ADAC said.

“While the outlook for our industry remains subdued, Abu Dhabi International Airport continues to achieve impressive growth”
Mohammed Al Bulooki
Vice President, Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue
Abu Dhabi Airports Company
London was the busiest destination in July with 50,900 passengers, followed by Bangkok with 40,465 Doha took third place with 37,361, followed by Cairo and Bahrain with 36,108 and 35,773 passengers respectively.

These top five destinations together accounted for 21.7% of all traffic through the airport.

ADAC said that the substantial increase in traffic can be attributed to the start of school holidays as well as the growing range of choice available to passengers at the airport. It noted that new routes had been launched by Etihad to destinations including Athens, Larnaca and Istanbul, supported by increased frequencies elsewhere.

Additionally, new airlines such as Bahrain Air, Sun Air, Jat Airways, Safi Airways and Elite Aviation/Blue Wings have been establishing routes from Abu Dhabi International Airport.

India remained the largest market and the primary driver of traffic growth with an +18.9% increase in passengers, ahead of Pakistan in second place followed by the UK.

Australia continued its rapid passenger growth with an increase of +133.7% as a result of increased frequencies and the new Athens-Melbourne connectivity.

ADAC Vice President of Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue Mohammed Al Bulooki commented: “While the outlook for our industry remains subdued, Abu Dhabi International Airport continues to achieve impressive growth.

“We are benefiting from strong market fundamentals in Abu Dhabi and the stable economy. July was a fantastic, record-breaking month for the airport and we look forward to continued progress towards our goal of becoming a global destination for commerce and tourism.”