Sharjah International Airport has recorded its first million-passenger month, handling 1,041,870 inbound, outbound, transfer and transit passengers during the month of August, a 12 percent increase on the 928,897 passengers handled during August 2015, according to the airport’s latest statistics.

Sharjah airport surpassed 10 million passengers per annum for the first time during 2015, registering an annual passenger growth rate of 5.5 percent compared with 2014. Meanwhile, the airport has had a healthy average monthly passenger growth rate of 12 percent during 2016, compared with last year’s passenger numbers.

Overall, 7,349,333 passengers were handled by Sharjah International Airport during the first eight months of 2016. In another first, 7,001 aircraft movements were recorded during August, 10.5 percent more aircraft movements than during the same month in 2015.

Air Arabia, the largest low-cost carrier operator in the Middle East and North Africa, is headquartered in Sharjah and the airline’s expansion continues to support the airport’s growth. The airline has introduced two new routes from its Sharjah hub this year: direct flights to Sarajevo (SJJ) in Bosnia and Herzegovina launched in March, plus new direct flights to Batumi (BUS) in Georgia during July.

Meanwhile, Kochi-headquartered Air India Express added three new routes this year connecting Sharjah with Mumbai (SAHAR), Chandigarh (IXC) and Tiruchirapalli (TRZ) airports in India. Another Indian international airline, Jet Airways, also launched a new route this year, introducing direct Sharjah – Mangaluru (IXE) flights in August.

Sharjah International Airport plans to handle 25 million passengers per annum by the year 2025, in line with the expansion of the aviation sector, the growth of Sharjah as a tourism destination and the development of the emirate’s diversified economy.

Source: SAA, various