Ahead of Abu Dhabi International Airport’s regular monthly traffic announcement for September, the airport’s growth figures have been buoyed by a report conducted by world renowned management consultants, Arthur D. Little, and published in Air Transport World magazine which lists Abu Dhabi as one of the fastest growing aviation hubs in the world today.

Figures released in a comprehensive, independent analysis of world airport passenger traffic for 2007 placed Abu Dhabi as one of the joint leaders in a top ten of the world’s top performing intercontinental hubs, in terms of relative growth. The leading hubs, along with Abu Dhabi, included New Delhi and Doha with Mumbai and Guangzhou, China - Baiyun in joint second. Others in the top ten included Dubai, Madrid-Barajas, Sao Paulo, JFK, and Bole (Ethiopia).

Supporting the findings of this report, figures released directly from ADAC today demonstrated yet more growth with passenger numbers for the first nine months having been lifted by a third (32.9 per cent) to over 6.67 million passengers, over the same period last year.

 

The trailing 12 month (TTM) figures (September 2007 to September 2008) faired even better demonstrating a solid 34.6 percent growth and over 8.5 million passengers handled through the airport during that period.

Aircraft movements in the first three quarters showed a steady 15.5 per cent increase with cargo maintaining a familiar growth pattern, seen throughout 2008, with a steady 14.8 per cent increase. Q3 figures alone also showed positive signs over the same July-September period last year with passenger traffic up 24.1 per cent, cargo up 13.6 per cent and aircraft movements showing a steady 13.0 percent improvement.

With the summer peak travel period over, September’s monthly figures compared to the same month last year reflected more conservative growth rates by comparison yet the percentage gains far outstrip current international norms with passenger numbers increasing by 22.5 per cent. Cargo traffic saw a 7.5 per cent increase with aircraft movements up by 11.3 percent. Etihad Airways, the National Airline of the UAE, remains the main contributor to growth at Abu Dhabi International as it continued an aggressive expansion of its network over the last 12 months, adding both new destinations as well as additional frequencies on existing routes. In addition, to Etihad’s expansion, seven new airlines have also commenced operations from Abu Dhabi airports since the beginning of the year – the latest being AirBlue, Pakistan’s largest independent carrier, which started operations from Abu Dhabi International’s Terminal 2 in August.

ADAC has always made clear its ambition for growth but to be independently recognized, in the context of many other airport developments worldwide, demonstrates the company is delivering on its commitments and that our efforts to become a truly world-class global gateway are gradually and genuinely being realised,” said Rudy Vercelli, CEO of ADAC.

“The phased opening of our new Terminal 3 and soft-launch of the CAT III(B) second runway are just two examples of new facilities we have introduced in October this year and will only help support both the greater services and experiences we hope to provide for all our customers and airline partners,” added Vercelli.

When fully operational, Terminal 3 will boost the airport’s overall passenger capacity by five million to over 12 million and will be used predominantly by Etihad Airways. The T3 will act as an interim facility until the ‘Midfield Terminal Complex’ (MTC) comes online in 2012. In its first year of operations, the MTC’s capacity is expected to be around 20 million passengers per year.

In related data, published by ADAC today, the top five most popular city destinations travelled to from Abu Dhabi in September 2008 were revealed to be: Doha (first), Jeddah, London, Cairo and Bahrain. These five cities accounted for exactly 17.0 percent of total traffic through Abu Dhabi International Airport in the month.