UAE airports have reported a positive performance in the first four months of the year, handling 37.84 million passengers - a 17.3 per cent increase compared to 32.24 million a year ago, said a report.

Dubai International Airport witnessed a 14 per cent increase in passenger numbers to 27.5 million,  said a report in Gulf News, which was a result of Emirates and flydubai increasing their seating capacity to 12 per cent and 17 per respectively, the report cited Will Horton, senior analyst at CAPA -- Centre for Aviation, as saying.

Abu Dhabi International saw passenger numbers rise 27 per cent to 7.4 million passengers with an average monthly increase of 392,577. This can be ascribed to Etihad’s additional capacity of 23 percent over the same period, meaning the airline – and others – will be filling in more seats to the emirate.

Dubai World Central (DWC) handled 158,216 passengers in the first four months of the year, an 80 per cent increase compared to 84,125 passengers a year ago.

With Al Ain International reporting a 90 per cent increase in the number of passengers to 10,313 passengers over the January to April period, Ali Majid Al Mansouri, chairman of Abu Dhabi - the manager and operator of airports in the emirate - said the government was studying how to boost traffic at Al Ain.

Moreover, Sharjah saw a 23 per cent increase in passenger numbers while Ras Al Khaimah handled 109,411 passengers compared to just 139 a year ago, the report said.