Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport up by 8.1% in first six months of 2009

The figures show a year on year increase of 8.1% in passenger traffic for the six months when compared to the same period in the previous year and 7.9% increase for the month of June.

On average 26,966 passengers per day passed through the airport in June. Aircraft movements in the same month increased by 15.2%.

Contributing to the traffic growth is the increased services by Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and the recent launch of Etihad services to Athens, Istanbul and Larnaca.

India remained the airport's largest market and main driver of growth with a 12.5% increase in traffic year on year. Pakistan remains in second place with an increase of 7.6%, leaving Saudi Arabia as the airports' third largest market.

London remained the busiest destination for the airport in June, with a total of 41,748 passengers. In second place came Doha with 34,399 passengers, followed by Bangkok in third with total passenger numbers of 29,930. Jeddah and Manila were the fourth and fifth busiest destinations respectively.

Mohammed Al Bulooki, Vice President of Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue, commented:

"This year has been a challenging year for the aviation industry, we are glad to see airlines, airports and the whole aviation industry work together in sustaining and growing the business. We value our relationship with airlines and work in close partnership with them to deliver these healthy growth rates."

"In spite of the current global economic downturn, Abu Dhabi International Airport continues to record growth and defy the negative market trends. We continue to invest in the quality of our services and our facilities, which ensures we are poised and ready to act when the market makes its recovery," he added.