Abu Dhabi and Dubai airport passenger traffic reaches 83m in 2013

Passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports hit a record last year, with about 83 million passing through the hubs.
The number of passengers at Abu Dhabi International Airport exceeded 16.5 million last year, a 12.4 per cent rise on 2012, while at Dubai International there were 66.43 million passengers, up 15.2 per cent from 2012.
For December, passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi was up 14.4 per cent year-on-year to 1.5 million. Meanwhile, Dubai International grew by 13.6 per cent to 6.04 million passengers.
The top five destinations from Abu Dhabi last year were India, Germany, England, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, the airport data showed. For Dubai, the top three destinations were India, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
"It was truly a historic year for Dubai's aviation sector, highlighted by the successful opening of Concourse A, the world's largest and only facility purpose-built for the Airbus A380; the launch of passenger services at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central; and a record-breaking airshow that featured aircraft orders exceeding US$200 billion – the bulk of which was placed by Dubai's flag carriers," said Paul Griffiths, the chief executive of Dubai Airports.
"2014 is set to be another eventful year, one featuring continued traffic growth, network expansion and the ongoing enlargement and upgrade of our facilities and runways."
Separately, Emirates Airline said that any decision to move its operations from Dubai International to Al Maktoum International is one for the Dubai Government to make.
"Nothing has been announced yet. We welcome the ongoing development of Dubai World Central, which benefits the whole aviation industry in Dubai and the UAE by enhancing capacity and capability for future growth," an Emirates spokesman said.
Meanwhile, cargo volume at Abu Dhabi was up 27 per cent in December to 66,000 tonnes, while at Dubai International freight volume for the last month of the year was up 8 per cent to 218,138 tonnes compared to a year ago.
selgazzar@thenational.ae