This photo shows an aerial view of Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Abu Dhabi has spiralled in importance where touristy traffic is concerned. It has a lot of attractions for the visitor, be it Ferrari World; the Louvre Abu Dhabi; the irresistible Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, held on the Yas Marina Circuit;  the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque... the list goes on.

No wonder over 6 million passengers landed on Abu Dhabi’s five airports — Abu Dhabi International, Al Ain International, Al Bateen Executive, Delma and Sir Bani Yas Island — in the first half of this year. Abu Dhabi Airports, the operator of the five airports in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday released its passenger traffic report for the first half of 2022. The 6,299,725 passengers came between 1 January and 30 June 2022.

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The airports also recorded 94,538 flights, clearly a testimony to its operational excellence.

That’s not all: 297,791 tonnes of air freight were handled between January and June at Abu Dhabi International Airport and Al Ain International Airport.

The top five countries in terms of passenger volumes at AUH during H1 2022 were India, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Meanwhile, the top five destination airports were London Heathrow, Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin, and Cairo.

Shareef Hashim Al Hashmi, Chief Executive Officer, Abu Dhabi Airports, said: “Our passenger traffic results for this year’s first half represent another stride forward for Abu Dhabi Airports and the wider industry. While 2021 was a successful year, the target for 2022 was always to build on that momentum by catering to higher numbers of travellers and expanding our airline network with partners while staying committed to the highest levels of service excellence.”