Abu Dhabi International Airport showed strong passenger and cargo growth for February 2010, with passenger traffic rising 17.2 per cent over the same month last year.

Aircraft movements were up by 13.3 per cent and cargo tonnage handled grew 17.6 per cent, compared to February 2009, according to the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (Adac).

The year-to-date figures, for the first two months of the year, also showed robust growth at 14.0 per cent.

Bangkok became the airport’s busiest destination in February, pushing London into second place with Doha the third busiest city destination for the month. Bahrain and Manila were in fourth and fifth place respectively; the top-five destinations accounting for 21 per cent of the airport’s overall traffic.

“From the start of this year, we have seen encouraging results as Abu Dhabi International Airport continues to grow steadily and strongly. As such Adac remains focused on enhancing the facilities and services we offer to our passengers, committed to attracting new airlines, and ensuring we can facilitate the growing number of visitors to and from the UAE capital in 2010,” stated Ahmed Al Haddabi, senior vice president of Airport Operations, Adac.-TradeArabia News Service