Double digit passenger growth at Abu Dhabi International Airport

Passenger numbers for the month exceeded 900,000, as figures show a total of 923,124 people travelled through the airport in the month of July. This was a 10.3% increase over the same month in 2008 which registered 837,129 passengers.

London emerged as the busiest destination in July with 50,900 passengers, followed by Bangkok with 40,465 passengers. Doha took third place with 37,361. In fourth and fifth place came 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.

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 Abu Dhabi International Airport, with new routes launched by Etihad to destinations including Athens, Larnaca and Istanbul, increased frequencies, and new airlines such as Bahrain Air, Sun Air, Jat Airways, Safi Airways and Elite Aviation/Blue Wings establishing routes from the airport.

India remained the largest market and the primary driver of traffic growth with 18.9 per cent increase in passengers, whilst Pakistan retained its second place. The UK was the airport's third largest market.

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

Traffic peaked on 30 July with 32,895 passengers arriving, departing and transferring through the airport, whilst the daily average was 29,779.

Mohammed Al Bulooki, Vice President of Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue, ADAC, 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."

There was also good news for cargo movement which grew by 2.5% compared to the same time last year, and for cargo flight loads which recorded a 6.1% growth as a result of the significant increase of Expert Commercial Agencies and China Airlines.