Etihad flights to Italy and US boost Abu Dhabi airport traffic

Abu Dhabi Airports is in the middle of building the $3 billion Midfield Terminal building. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Airports

Abu Dhabi International Airport said yesterday its passenger traffic jumped 14.9 per cent in May, boosted by flights to Italy after the emirate’s flagship carrier Etihad Airways bought a stake in Alitalia. Trips to the United States also helped to drive gains.

The number of passengers passing through Abu Dhabi airport rose to 1,877,440 in May compared with 1,633,700 in the same month last year, the airport said. The number of passengers being ferried to Italy leapt 166.5 per cent in May to more than 50,000 passengers, while passengers coming to and from the US rose to 106,000, a 49 per cent increase from May 2014.

Meanwhile, the number of aircraft moving in and out of the airport rose 13.9 per cent to 14,725 in May from 12,931 in the same month last year.

"May was an excellent month for us, and we continue to see strong growth across all key sectors with both passenger and cargo facilities running smoothly," said Ahmad Al Haddabi, the chief operating officer at Abu Dhabi Airports.

“The ability to handle increases in traffic on this scale, month after month, is a testament to the efforts and experience of our operations team, as well as a closer indication of our national carrier Etihad’s strong growth.”

The airport’s main growth drivers of late include increased activity by airberlin, Jet Airways and Air Seychelles, and the addition of four new routes by Etihad and Alitalia to Madrid, Venice, Pune in India and Entebbe in Uganda. The number of Umrah flights to Jeddah is also on the rise.

Three further routes added at the end of March – South African Airways launched an inaugural route to Johannesburg, while Alitalia added Milan and Venice as new destinations – are also contributing to passenger growth.

Etihad last year spent €560 million (Dh2.29 billion) to acquire a 49 per cent stake in Alitalia, and 75 per cent in Alitalia Loyalty – which operates the MilleMiglia frequent flier programme.

Last month, Abu Dhabi Airports said it expected to handle 22 per cent more flights this summer.

The airport operator is in the middle of building the US$3bn Midfield Terminal building. Upon its completion, scheduled in July 2017, it will boost capacity at the airport to 30 million passengers a year.

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