Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport increased by 19.4 per cent year on year to 9.48 million during the first half on the back of Etihad Airways' expansion of routes.
"Almost 10 million passengers passed through Abu Dhabi International Airport in the first six months of 2014, and it is reasonable to expect that number to be exceeded in the second half of the year," said Ahmad Al Haddabi, the chief operations officer at the capital's main airport.
During the six-month period, the top five routes from Abu Dhabi were to Bangkok, Manila, Doha, Jeddah and London.
New destinations that Etihad added include Los Angeles, Zurich and Jaipur.
In terms of regions, the East Asia had the most passenger traffic, followed by Europe and the Middle East.
Cargo volumes also rose 16 per cent to 377,885 tonnes in the first half, the airport data showed.
Etihad carried 268,713 tonnes of freight and post during the first half of the year, up 25 per cent over the same period last year.
The Abu Dhabi carrier said recently that it was on track to increase its cargo operations to become a US$1 billion business this year.
Middle East carriers have bucked the trend as worldwide cargo business continued to stall.
They transported 7 per cent more freight in June and 10 per cent more in the first half compared with the same periods last year, according to an International Air Transport Association report.
Meanwhile, European carriers’ cargo volumes fell by 1.5 per cent in June compared with the same month last year, possibly reflecting recent weakness in manufacturing and export activity.
Saj Ahmad, the chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said that with the opening of Abu Dhabi’s new Midfield Terminal, growth at the airport would accelerate.
“The UAE has become a true global aviation nexus for travel, and the onset of the new Midfield Terminal in 2017 will allow Etihad to grow even faster and use the strength of its connections to other airlines like Alitalia, Jet Airways, airberlin and others to filter more traffic into Abu Dhabi and beyond,” said Mr Ahmad.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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