Abu Dhabi airport infrastructure beefed up for summer rush

The upgrades, which include 20 new boarding bus gates for passengers in Terminal 3, are part of a programme to lift the airport’s capacity to 18 million passengers a year.

Abu Dhabi International Airport recorded its highest-ever increase in passenger traffic in May to 1.63 million passengers. Galen Clarke / The National

The company that runs Abu Dhabi International Airport said it had taken steps such as adding X-ray machines and boarding gates to ease the summer rush for travellers.

Abu Dhabi Airport Company (Adac) said yesterday that the airport is likely to handle 18 per cent more flights a day during the peak travel season.

The upgrades, which include 20 new boarding bus gates for passengers in Terminal 3, which is used only by Etihad Airways, are part of a programme to lift the airport's capacity to 18 million passengers a year.

The number of passengers who used the airport last year was 16.5 million.

Adac also said that it had added six parking bays for wide-bodied aircraft, which will increase the airport’s flight capacity by 10 per cent.

Adac also said that 16 new X-ray machines had been installed to speed up the security process for transfer passengers. Improvements have also been made to the baggage transfer system, raising its capacity by 40 per cent.

“As we look ahead to welcome a record number of passengers using Abu Dhabi International Airport as their connecting hub or destination airport, the number of flights we will handle during the peak travel months will leap by 18 per cent to nearly 170 every single day of the week compared to last summer,” said Ali Majed Al Mansoori, the chairman of Adac.

“We’ve made great improvements all around the airport to ensure that all passengers, whether arriving, departing or transferring, will have a great start to their holiday journey.”

In May, the airport recorded its highest-ever increase in passenger traffic. A total of 1.63 million passengers used the airport that month, up 27.4 per cent from 1.28 million a year earlier.

Aircraft movements rose by 15.8 per cent to 12,931 compared with 11,162 logged in May last year.

Cargo handled rose to 66,944 tonnes, representing a 24.5 per cent gain compared with 53,788 tonnes in the same month the previous year.

Meanwhile, work on the Midfield Terminal Building continues and the terminal is set to open in three years. It would increase capacity at the capital’s airport to 30 million passengers a year.

* Wam

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