Sharjah International Airport has seen a 10 percent increase in the number of passengers handled July, August and September this year, compared with the same period in 2014. The airport handled 2.65 million passengers during the last three months, with 18,741 aircraft take-offs and landings. 7.4 million passengers passed through the international airport during the first nine months of 2015.
Sharjah welcomed 4 million arrivals via its international airport last year and a total of 2 million tourist visitors to the emirate. Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority’s tourism development strategy aims to attract more than 10 million tourists to the emirate by year 2021. In addition to international airport, tourist arrive in the Sharjah via other neighbouring emirates and also by sea via Sharjah’s thriving cruise ship terminals.
The new passenger statistics for the third quarter of 2015, confirm the airport’s strong growth, after figures appeared to show a levelling off during the first six months. In fact, regular commercial traffic and passenger numbers have continued to grow throughout the year, but an exceptional increase in airport traffic during May and June last year has skewed percentages.
May and June 2014 saw extraordinary passenger increases of 27 percent and 25 percent respectively, due to the volume of traffic diverted from Dubai International Airport because of a scheduled runway closure. The extra business boosted passenger traffic by 14 percent during the first six months of 2014, affecting percentage comparisons with the first six months of 2015.
Sharjah International Airport’s growth is driven by the expansion of Sharjah-headquartered budget airline Air Arabia, established international carrier routes and private aviation. Air Arabia carried over 6.8 million passengers in 2014, registering 12 percent year-on-year passenger growth. Meanwhile, global business aviation services company Gama Aviation is investing US$15 million (AED 55m) in expanding its Sharjah hub.
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