Abu Dhabi airport sees over 24m passengers in 2016

 Abu Dhabi International registered more than 24 million passengers passing through its terminals during 2016, according to new statistics released on Wednesday (January 25).

A total of 24,482,119 passengers used the airport as a point of departure, arrival or transit, representing a 5.1% increase on the 23,286,632 passengers seen during 2015.

2016 saw significant rises in traffic to and from a number of key destinations, such as the United Kingdom, which increased by 11.4%.

India remained in top position, with more than four million passengers throughout 2016, representing a market share of 18.1% and an annual growth of 13.3%.

Abdul Majeed Al Khoori, acting CEO at Abu Dhabi Airports, said: “The figures released today reveal consistent growth in passenger traffic, demonstrating that Abu Dhabi continues to expand as a global hub processing more passengers than ever before.”

He said Etihad Airways accounted for 76 percent of traffic at the airport throughout last year, carrying more than 18.6 million passengers.

He added that traffic through Terminal 3 rose to around 15 million passengers — a 12.6 percent increase compared to 2015, boosted by the introduction of the Smart Travel System, installed in Terminals 1 and 3 in the first quarter of 2016.

This system allows passengers to use automated check-in, bag drop and boarding facilities, in addition to unmanned passport control gates equipped with biometric verification functions and facial recognition technology.