Abu Dhabi airport’s Terminal A plans to attract more airlines to start flights to the UAE capital and aims to “future-proof” operations by increasing its capacity to 65 million passengers in 10 years, up from 45 million currently.
A total of 28 airlines operate from Terminal A, four more than the older terminal, with the addition of flights by Air France, Russian state airline Aeroflot, low-cost company Pobeda and Czech airline Smartwings.
“We are trying to leverage a lot on the government-to-government relations at the moment. I would say Asia and China are definitely a target,” Elena Sorlini, managing director and interim chief executive of Abu Dhabi Airports, told media in an interview on Monday.
“We also have the US pre-clearance facility, which is an asset as there are only 15 airports in the world that have them, and we definitely want to try to bank on that. These are the ongoing discussions.
“The target is to enhance the connectivity of Abu Dhabi and to unlock its potential from a tourist, trade and air cargo perspective, so we are putting some science in terms of the markets we want to target.”
Abu Dhabi International Airport opened its long-anticipated new terminal building to the public on November 1. It is set to bolster Abu Dhabi’s position as a global business and tourism hub.
State-run operator Abu Dhabi Airports is already preparing for continued growth in air travel demand with plans to increase Terminal A’s passenger capacity over the next decade.
In the second phase of expansion, capacity will grow to 65 million passengers, up from 45 million currently, in line with home carrier Etihad Airways’ plans to triple the number of passengers to 33 million and double its fleet to 150 planes by 2030.
“That will be done in a modular way, so you deploy capacity when needed, and we are starting to look at that because we are at a stage where we’ve beaten our expectations, so we need to be ready for the next step,” Ms Sorlini said.
“The time frame needs to be activated within the next 10 years with Etihad’s vision for 2030 to reach 33 million passengers, so you can get the implications in terms of this place starting to become a bit constrained.”
In 2023, Terminal A is projected to handle 22 million passengers, up from 21.9 million in 2019, Ms Sorlini told a press briefing at the airport on Monday.
In the year through to October, the airport recorded a 50 per cent increase in passenger traffic, compared to the same 10-month period of 2022, she said.
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