Abu Dhabi International Airport has maintained its healthy passenger growth rate in the first half of 2009, reporting an 8.1% increase in passenger numbers to 4.6m in the first half of the year and a

7.9% rise to 809,000 passengers for the month of June (both numbers include transfer traffic).

The Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) reports that on average, 26,966 passengers per day passed through the airport in June, with aircraft movements up by 15.2% in the same month.


ADAC said that increased services by Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and the recent launch of Etihad services to Athens, Istanbul and Larnaca all contributed to the traffic growth.

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 said: ‘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.’