Zayed International Airport.
FRANKFURT—Abu Dhabi Airports expects passenger traffic to broadly match last year’s record levels despite ongoing geopolitical disruption in the Middle East, as it targets new routes to the Indian subcontinent, Africa and Asia.
Zayed International Airport (AUH) handled 32.5 million passengers in 2025, up 12.8% year over year, and expects its full-year 2026 performance to be largely in line with that figure, Abu Dhabi Airports' head of aviation Farhaz Mohammed has told Routes.
Traffic exceeded year-earlier levels in each month from July through September. By the end of June, AUH was handling more than 93,000 passengers a day across approximately 500 daily flights.
Scheduled departing seats for winter 2026-27 total approximately 9.34 million, up 17.2% from winter 2025, according to OAG Schedules Analyser data. That compares with approximately 9.9 million departing seats in summer 2026, down 8.7% year over year.
Etihad Airways accounts for about 72.7% of scheduled winter 2026 departing capacity, with 6.79 million seats, up 18.8%. Air Arabia Abu Dhabi’s capacity is scheduled to rise 12.5% to approximately 810,200 seats.
New Etihad routes this winter include flights to Luxembourg; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Calgary, Canada. Additionally, Condor has commenced operations into AUH with three daily flights and Air India Express is launching a new route to Amritsar this winter.
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Mohammed identified the Indian subcontinent, Africa, China and Southeast Asia as priority markets for further development, citing business, tourism and VFR demand. “The Indian subcontinent also remains largely underserved, with real potential to strengthen connectivity to match that demand,” he said. “We want to work with airlines that share that ambition.”
India already features prominently in AUH’s network. Mumbai was its largest destination by departing seat capacity in summer 2026, with approximately 363,202 seats, while Kochi and Delhi were also among its five largest markets, according to OAG.
“Beyond the subcontinent, we see strong long-term potential in Africa, China, Central Asia and Southeast Asia, where trade, tourism and investment links with Abu Dhabi are growing rapidly,” Mohammed said.
The airport’s “One Team Abu Dhabi” approach coordinates aviation, tourism and government stakeholders, aligning route development with the emirate’s Tourism Strategy 2030 goal of attracting 39.3 million visitors annually.
Mohammed said investment in tourism and the wider economy was creating additional sources of aviation demand. Planned attractions include the Disney theme park resort on Yas Island, Sphere Abu Dhabi and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, while population expansion and investment in non-oil industries are supporting demand for passenger and cargo services.
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