Sharjah Airport passenger numbers rise

The airport introduced 16 new smart gates in both arrivals and departures, which has boosted movement

Around 5.73 million passengers were serviced at the Sharjah Airport during the first half of the year. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Sharjah Airport registered 4.34 per cent growth in passenger movement during the first half of the year, due to expanded services for passengers and airlines.

Approximately 5.73 million passengers were serviced at the airport compared with 5.493 million passengers during the same period last year.

“The results of the first half of this year reflect the continued growth in passenger movement and the state of development witnessed by various fields within the aviation sector in the UAE,” said Sharjah Airport Authority chairman Ali Salim Al Midfa.

Sharjah’s international airport is the hub for the emirate’s low-cost private airline Air Arabia as well as several other budget airlines that service around 70 destinations worldwide.

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Services such as 16 new smart gates, available for use in the departure and arrivals terminals, reached nearly 1.5 million passengers during the first half of 2018. This contributed to the increase in passenger movement and a reduction of congestion during peak times, with completion rates not exceeding 20 seconds per transaction, said Mr Al Midfa.

The airport handled around 2.851 million passengers during the second quarter, which witnessed 3.59 per cent growth when compared with the same period last year.  Passenger numbers for April, May and June ranged between 966,400, 937,450 and 947,200 respectively.

Air cargo for the month of June also grew 19 per cent, higher than for the same period last year, to reach 64.73 metric tonnes.  Regular and irregular aircraft movements for the first half of the year stood at more than 38,800 - an increase of 3.83 per cent over the same period last year. The aircraft movements were largely due to passengers travelling to and from destinations such as India, Russia, the GCC and Asia.

Sharjah is one of the smaller airports in the UAE. In comparison, passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport, the busiest hub in the region fell 3.8 per cent year-on-year to reach nearly 6.59 million in May, 260,000 less than the same period last year.

Lower traffic during Ramadan slowed growth, however passenger traffic for the first five months of the year remained nearly flat at 36.94 million when compared with the corresponding period last year.