Monday July 31st, 2017
More than 37,000 aircraft movements.
Sharjah International Airport (SIA) continues to record a good rate of growth. A total of 5.5 million passengers passed through the airport during the first half of 2017, with an increase of 2.9 percent as compared to the 5.3 million passengers recorded during the first half of 2016. SIA handled 835.8 thousand passengers in June 2017, a 1.7 percent growth as compared to the 821.23 thousand passengers that passed through the airport during the same month last year.
The aircraft movement increased to more than 37.3 thousand movements from January to June 2017, a 3.8 percent increase compared to the 36 thousand movements during the corresponding period last year. The airport registered 6,115 aircraft movements, including 94 unscheduled ones, during June 2017.
The volume of air freight handled at SIA in H1 2017 was more than 72,998 tons, including 11,157 tons in June, while the amount of sea-air freight registered during the period from January until the end of June 2017 was 5,346 tons.
H.E Ali Salim Al Midfa, Chairman of Sharjah Airport Authority, said: “The number of passengers through Sharjah International Airport continues to grow as a result of the continuous develop-ment of the facilities and services under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mu-hammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. The smart gates have contributed to the airport’s capacity while there has also been an increase in the number of destinations served by the airlines operating at the airport. Also, the activities and festivals organised by Sharjah have given a boost to tourism and attracted more visitors”.
H.E expressed his thanks to airport users, passengers, customers, airlines, travel agents, private jet operators and the supporting companies of the airport operations, for their trust in the air-port and using its services and facilities.
H.E Sheikh Faisal bin Saoud Al Qassimi, Director of Sharjah Airport Authority, said that the air-port will continue to provide the best services and facilities which have gained the confidence of passengers, making the airport the preferred travelling option of many people because of the efficiency of procedures, particularly after the launch of smart gates which have helped cut waiting time and reduce congestion.
According to statistics, more than 850,000 passengers have passed through the 16 Smart Gates at Sharjah International Airport since they were launchedintroduced in October 2016. The smart gates have reduced the time required to carry out passport control procedures by more than 70%, helping toed cut the waiting time , as travellers can now get through passport control withinin 20 seconds and pass through the gates in less than 10 seconds., The initiative reflec-treflectsing the pioneering and innovative services provided by the authorityirport as part of its continuous efforts to improve its services and achieve the highest level of passenger and cus-tomer satisfaction.
Sharjah International Airport continued its commitment to support community activities in the first half of 2017 , through a series of initiatives and sponsorships., as part of its belief in the importance of social responsibility. The airport has supported activities for people of determi-nation and , launched many initiatives in Ramadan and facilitated the travel of pilgrims during Hajj season, among many more community initiatives.
