Abu Dhabi Airports has revealed that passenger traffic to the UK has grown by 34.2% over the last year, attributing much of this increase to the fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft operated by Etihad Airways. Overall passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport increased by 15.8% in November, with a total of 1,781,529 people travelling through AUH last month, compared to 1,537,952 in the same period in 2014.

Commenting on the figures, Ahmad Al Haddabi, Chief Operations Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said, "As the gateway to the capital, Abu Dhabi International Airport is home to our national carrier, Etihad Airways. Over the past year, the number of seats available on flights between Abu Dhabi and the UK has increased by 53.1%. Many of these are on Etihad's A380 services to London Heathrow, and the airline's new route to Edinburgh, providing the capacity necessary to handle the increasing number of travellers coming to Abu Dhabi to experience the wonderful holiday destinations the emirate has to offer."

Al Haddabi added, "We will continue to work hand-in-hand with Etihad and our other airline partners and airport stakeholders to deliver a world class passenger experience for all the travellers using Abu Dhabi International Airport each month."

There were 14,028 aircraft movements in November 2015, representing a 3.9% increase on the 13,501 movements that took place in November 2014. Last month London, Bangkok, Doha, Delhi and Bombay were the top five routes from Abu Dhabi International Airport.

In October this year, Abu Dhabi International Airport registered a 13.6% increase in passenger traffic with 1,920,011 passengers using its terminals, and aircraft movements increased by 6.3% to 14,569 movements, compared to the same period last year.