ABU DHABI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT continues to post significant increases in cargo volumes in 2015 after it saw a year-on-year (YOY) rise of 19.3 per cent in April.
The airport’s operator Abu Dhabi Airports says it handled 71,650 tonnes, which was the busiest month so far this year. This was up on the 60,059 tonnes handled in April 2014.
April’s total is slightly up on March when 71,581 tonnes were processed, but nearly 8,000 tonnes higher than the 64,067 tonnes in February and the 64,479 tonnes handled in January.
The year-to-date volumes figure for the first four months of the year stands at 271,777 tonnes, which is up YOY by 11.7 per cent on the 243,403 tonnes in the same period in 2014.
Abu Dhabi Airports chief operations officer, Ahmad Al Haddabi, says the double-digit growth in cargo activity every month, makes it one of the fastest growing aviation hubs in the world. He says the airport is striving towards delivering “optimum services and facilities”.
Al Haddabi says that bellyhold volumes were boosted by new services into Abu Dhabi operated at the end of March by South African Airways, which launched an inaugural route to Johannesburg and by Alitalia adding services from Milan and Venice. In April 2015, the top five routes from Abu Dhabi were London Heathrow, Bangkok, Manila, Doha and Bombay.
Abu Dhabi also expects volume to increase when it opens its Midfield Terminal Building in 2017. Last year, Abu Dhabi saw cargo volumes rise by 12.8 per cent to 797,069 tonnes, but it is on target to surpass that figure in 2015.
