Sharjah Airport passenger numbers up 7% in April

Sharjah International Airport posted on Sunday a 7 per cent in increase in passenger numbers for the month of April.

A total of 814,648 passengers used the airport in April compared to the 761,313 in April 2014, according to an emailed statement.

The numbers posted by Sharjah International Airport on Sunday are different to data released to Gulf News by federal regulator the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) last week which showed that Sharjah International Airport handled 673,147 passengers in April 2015, a 23 per cent increase on the 543,817 passengers that used the airport in April 2014.

The discrepancy is because the GCAA data does not include children (passengers under 11 years of age) and cabin crew, a GCAA spokesperson told Gulf News by phone.

Sharjah International handled 5,823 aircraft take-offs and landings in April 2015, a 4.47 per cent increase compared to the 5,574 a year ago, according to the airport. The airport handled "more than” 16,000 tonnes of cargo. Sea-air cargo "was around” 1,761 tonnes.

Ali Salim Al Midfa, chairman of the Sharjah Airport Authority, stated that, "We expect this growth momentum to be maintained during the summer period.”