20 Apr 2016 , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi Airports has reported a 9.5% increase in passenger traffic during the first quarter (Q1) of 2016 at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH), compared to Q1 in 2015.

Between January and March this year, 6,044,025 passengers traveled through AUH, compared with 5,521,110 during the same period last year. Aircraft movements rose to 42,204, representing 1.5% growth on the 41,585 movements recorded in Q1 2015.

 Commenting on the traffic report, Eng. Ahmad Al Haddabi, Chief Operations Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said: 

 “Abu Dhabi is an important global transportation hub and this is reflected by the fact that more than six million passengers traveled through Abu Dhabi International Airport during the first quarter of the year. Traffic rose over the first three months of 2016 between the UK, Thailand, the USA and several other countries. With the launch of the Smart Travel initiative last month that allows passengers to check-in and move through immigration and security interacting only with cutting edge technology, we are ensuring that the growing number of passengers using Abu Dhabi International Airport spend less time in queues and more time enjoying our airport’s world-class facilities.”

 The top 5 destinations for Q1 were: Bangkok, London Heathrow, Jeddah, Doha and Delhi.

India continued to top the charts in terms of country routes, with the highest passenger traffic figures of 1,082,527, up 26.9% when compared to Q1 of 2015. Italy saw a huge increase in traffic with figures up 62.3% on the same period last year, making it the 10th busiest country route in Q1 of 2016.

The number of passengers traveling through AUH in March 2016 jumped to over two million passengers, reaching 2,025,842, up 5.6% from 1,917,939 in March 2015.