Ras al-Khaimah International Airport witnessed continuing growth in 2017, surpassing all passenger, movements and cargo tonnage records since the airports inauguration in 1976.
According to the report by Wam, charter flights have been running throughout the summer for the first time, as Ras al-Khaimah moves towards being a year-round destination for tourists. The airports first scheduled direct service to Europe kicked off with a connection to Prague, resulting in passenger volumes increasing by 6% compared to 2016 results.
On the cargo front, volumes are up 30.2% than the previous year, as the long-term strategy for the sector, which included additional routes coming on stream, comes to fruition. This growth has also impacted overall aircraft movements which are up by 17.6% year-on-year.
Mohammed Qazi, CEO of RAK International Airport, said: “2017 started strong as we continued our focus on promoting Ras al-Khaimah as the fastest-growing tourist destination regionally as well as the specialist cargo centre in the regional market, but summer was something we wanted to target this year as an indicator of our growing success.”
Qazi also announced that the winter charter schedules have been finalised and that new planned routes to Romania will begin in December of this year.
He added: “While the commercial performance has been at its strongest in our history, we have also invested in infrastructure with a new departures terminal, and well be completing our cargo expansion by the end of the year.”
“Sheikh Salem bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of RAK Airport, has also been instrumental in guiding the strategy development and implementation over the years. We are in a good place, and with established mechanisms, Ras Al Khaimah International Airport will witness many more years of growth,” Qazi concluded.