CAPA: UAE airport traffic to reach 80m passengers

The three major international airports of the UAE could reach a passenger throughput of 80 million in 2012, according to analysis of the market by CAPA-Centre for Aviation. Each of Dubai International, Abu Dhabi International and Sharjah International has achieved double-digit growth in traffic in the first nine months of this year, hitting a combined 59 million passengers. If their current growth rates continue over the last quarter, combined traffic may reach 80 million, projects CAPA. This would be four times the amount of traffic they handled in 2002 and double the amount they handled in 2006. CAPA noted: “With each achieving double digit growth, a combination of large order books for the local airlines and an increasing fleet of foreign carriers attracted to the market, the UAE airports are fast approaching the total airport traffic of New York City’s system, stagnating at a little above 100 million passengers annually.” Dubai, the largest of the locations, remains on course to become the world’s largest international airport for passenger traffic. As reported, traffic for the first nine months hit 42.5 million, an increase of 13.4 per cent year-on-year. It posted double-digit increases in seven of those nine months. Also in the nine months, Abu Dhabi International handled 10.9 million passengers, up by +19.8 per cent, while Sharjah recorded a +12.5 per cent increase to 5.6 million passengers. CAPA also noted the growth in the premium passenger market among the Gulf’s airports, driven by the expansion of the major carriers, Emirates and Etihad (as well as Qatar Airways out of Doha). “With the rapid growth of the ‘super-connector’ airlines in the Gulf region, premium traffic has become increasingly important in the Middle East. The joint attractions of geographical convenience and superior service standards (including high frequency widebody service to most major cities in the world) has allowed the airlines and airports in the Middle East to divert premium traffic away from traditional sixth freedom hubs in Europe and Asia,” CAPA said. It added that Heathrow Airport boasts a strong proportion of premium seats flown, at around 16 per cent (including premium economy), citing figures from Innovata, against a world average of 7 per cent. The leading UAE airports also feature high value markets, with 12.4 per cent of seats through Dubai being premium, and 11.5 per cent at Abu Dhabi. In nearby Doha International, the figure is also high at 10.3 per cent. The analyst also underlined how the UAE is building one of the world’s leading airport systems, fuelled by huge airport and airline investments in infrastructure, while traditional hub systems such as London struggle with capacity constraints.