Abu Dhabi traffic to grow 19% in 2004

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The airport hopes to become the region's second busiest as Abu Dhabi Duty Free plans to continue its development

Abu Dhabi International Airport expects to serve 5.1m passengers this year, up from 4.3 million in 2003. The airport has revealed ambitions to attract over 10m passengers in the next three to four years and to become the second largest airport in the Middle East in terms of passenger traffic.

There are also plans for the expansion of duty-free shops at the airport, Abu Dhabi Duty Free (ADDF) managing director Mohamed Mounib told the UAE News Digest. The plans are expected to be announced before the end of 2004 and will raise ADDF's retail area to 12,000sq m (129,480sq ft).

As reported earlier on TRW, ADDF's Summer Fiesta campaign has already boosted several categories at the airport. The retailer has reported a 13.8% growth in spend per passenger in the first five months of 2004 compared to the same period the previous year to reach an average spend per head of over $36.