Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) will use the Arabian Travel Markets Exhibition to showcase its ambitious work to develop the Emirate's aviation infrastructure.
ATM 2007, which kicks off on Tuesday at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, will engage travel and tourism key players from six contents in four days of meetings, seminars, press conferences and networking.
H. E. Khalifa Al Mazrouei, Chairman and Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), said: "ATM 2007 comes at a time when Abu Dhabi International Airport is witnessing strong growth in traffic and gaining mounting recognition as an airport of choice."
March traffic results showed a 48 per cent rise over the same period last year. A total of 534,583 passengers used the Airport in March 2007, compared to 361,591 in March 2006. During the first quarter of 2007, total passenger traffic reached 1.575 million, an increase of 25% over the 1.255 million passengers in the same period in 2006.
Abu Dhabi Duty Free (ADDF), the Middle East's number one travel retailer by customer spend, has registered a turnover of AED 90.2m (USD24.5m) in Q1 2007 - over one quarter positive growth of 27.8 percent on the same period last year. The average spend per customer rose to $51 during the quarter. In terms of revenue, Abu Dhabi Duty Free ranks second in the Middle East and 34th worldwide.
The first quarter of 2007 did also bring international recognition for the airport as a gateway of choice. The Airport bagged two prestigious awards by the Airports Council International (ACI), an international body of 573 members operating over 1,643 airports in 178 countries. The awards, based on annual feedback of international passengers, confirmed ADIA as the best Airport in Africa and the Middle East in terms of service quality, courtesy, and customer service.
ATM 2007 would give participants and visitors first-hand exposure to Abu Dhabi's plans to become one of the world's most sophisticated aviation gateways.
Visitors to ADAC stand will be able to have a glimpse of how the Airport would look like. ADAC stand features a model of the Midfield Terminal Complex, the flagship terminal that will bring the Airport's overall capacity to 20 million passengers by 2010, which can then be further expanded gradually to 40 million to cope with future growth. The project includes also construction of an interim terminal for Etihad Airways, a second runway, a state-of-the-art air traffic control complex, new cargo facilities, and an airport free trade zone
Peter Hoslin, ADAC Head of Marketing, said "ATM provides us with a timely opportunity to talk and listen to the travel and tourism experts. Such an interaction is valuable in that it helps us ensure that the new facilities cater to the needs of the industry at world-class standards. It also allows us to show why Abu Dhabi and Al Ain International Airports provide good value to the industry, not only as transit airports but also as original destination hubs.
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About Abu Dhabi Airports Company
Abu Dhabi Airports Company, ADAC, is a public joint-stock company wholly owned by Abu Dhabi Government. It was incorporated by Emiri Decree number 5, of March 4th, 2006, to spearhead the development of the Emirate's aviation infrastructure.
ADAC has officially taken over the operation and management of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain international Airports, as of 28/09/2006. Under its mandate will be the re-development and expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport, which includes the new midfield terminal designed to increase the overall capacity of the airport to 20 million passengers by 2010.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, Please contact:
Adil Ibrahim,
Senior PR Executive,
Abu Dhabi Airports Company "ADAC"
Tel: 971 2 505 3482
Fax; 971 2 575 8300
Mob. 971 050 686 1380
E-mail: aibrahim@adac.ae
Press Release 2007
