Gulf airport growth

Abu Dhabi International

Total traffic for 2016 reached 24.4 million passengers, a 5.1 per cent increase on 2015’s figures. The most popular destination was Mumbai, which saw a 26 per cent rise in passengers when comparing June in 2016 with June 2015. Etihad placed its A380 on the route in May. The new Midfield Terminal, until recently slated for completion this year, has now been delayed by two years – a blow since when complete it will increase the airport’s capacity by 30 million passengers per year.

Dubai International

The world’s top airport in terms of international passenger traffic and number three for total passenger traffic (as reported by Airports Council International). Traffic reached 83.6 million passengers in 2016, up 7.2 per cent on 2015, with the top five countries in terms of total passenger volume being India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Pakistan and the US. Ten new A380 stands are due to be added at Concourse C by the end of 2018, taking the overall figure to almost 50, as part of a project to increase the airport’s capacity to nearly 120 million passengers by 2023.

Dubai World Central

Passenger traffic at Dubai’s second airport increased by 84.5 per cent during 2016 to 850,633 passengers, mainly driven by Flydubai, which, in addition to its operations at Dubai International, operates 35 weekly flights to five destinations from DWC. The airport is served by 27 passenger carriers, operating an average of 108 flights weekly to 44 international destinations.

Hamad International, Qatar

The airport served 37.3 million passengers in 2016, a growth of 20.5 per cent on the previous year, with the top routes being Dubai, London, Bangkok, Bahrain and Colombo. It has two dual-capacity runways (used for take-offs and landings at the same time), an airside hotel, two airside squash courts, a gym, a 25-metre pool and a spa. Last year eight more gates were opened in concourses D and E (bringing the total to 41 gates), 130,000 sqm of extra space was added, and Qatar Airways connected Doha to 14 new destinations through the airport.