India emerges as one of the main drivers of UAE air traffic

Dubai, Jul 1 (PTI) Abu Dhabi International Airport has recorded a significant increase of 60 per cent traffic to India owing to an increase in Jet Airways services. Jet is now operating 65 flights per week, with the number of destinations reaching 6 from 3 last year. Manila was the most popular route in May, witnessing 21 per cent increase due to a boost in Philippine Airlines' operations, followed by Doha which gained by 27 per cent, due to rise in Etihad flights to Qatar. Bangkok was the third most popular destination trailed by London, which recorded an increase of 12 per cent followed by Mumbai which has grown sharply by 87 per cent due to Etihad and Jet Airways' double daily flights, and emerged as one of the top 5 destinations for the first time. "Passenger numbers have continued to increase over the past few years, making the airport one of the fastest growing aviation hubs in the world," Chief Operations Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports Ahmad Al Haddabi said. "New code share partnerships between Etihad and various airlines have positively impacted our traffic numbers and we were excited to receive the first Aegean Airways flight on the 28th of May 2014," he said. Abu Dhabi International Airport recorded 27.4 per cent increase in passenger traffic for the month of May 2014, the highest in the airports' history. A total of 1,633,700 passengers used the Airport last May as compared to 1,282,185 in May 2013. Aircraft movements also increased by 15.8 per cent registering 12,931 movements when compared with 11,162 movements logged in May 2013. Cargo activity handling rose to 66,944 tonnes representing a 24.5 per cent increase when compared to 53,788 tonnes in May 2013. "We are looking forward to a busy summer programme as we strive to enhance the passenger's experience through a range of services and offerings," Al Haddabi said. PTI