Abu Dhabi International Airport posted double-digit growth in passenger and cargo traffic last month, in what officials said was a sign of the emirate's return to pre-crisis rates of rapid expansion.
Passenger traffic grew 11.2 per cent at the airport last month compared with January 2008, while cargo activity rose 25.6 per cent, the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) announced yesterday.
"Having withstood the global challenges of the world economy and the aviation industry in 2009, by demonstrating 7.3 per cent growth the results of the first month of 2010 show that demand for air travel to and from Abu Dhabi is returning to double-digit growth figures," said Ahmad al Haddabi, the senior vice president of airports operations at ADAC.
The growth was driven by conferences and exhibitions, such as the recent World Future Energy Summit, as well as Etihad Airways's expanding network and flight frequencies, ADAC officials said. The increase in cargo came from the large volume of aid sent to Haiti.
London remained the airport's busiest destination for the latest month, as it was last year, followed by Bangkok and Doha. Manila and Bahrain came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
One of the world's fastest-growing airports, Abu Dhabi International is undergoing a multibillion-dirham redevelopment and expansion designed to increase its capacity to more than 20 million passengers a year. As part of this redevelopment, a second runway and third terminal have been completed.
ADAC's announcement comes a day after Dubai's airports operator said Dubai International Airport had posted a 17 per cent rise in passenger traffic last month, compared with January 2008, and its cargo activity had increased by 31.5 per cent.
Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports bucked global trends last year by recording passenger growth in an industry hit by the H1N1 swine flu virus and the global economic downturn.
@Email:khagey@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
Sonchiriya
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Producer: RSVP Movies, Azure Entertainment
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Super%20Mario%20Bros%20Wonder
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%20EPD%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENintendo%20Switch%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A