Abu Dhabi International, the base of Etihad Airways, is continuing to see an increase in passengers with more than 11.8 million passing through the airport in the first half of the year.

The airport, which is currently undergoing a major expansion, handled 736,782 more passengers between January 1 and June 30 this year compared with a year ago, state operator Abu Dhabi Airports said on Tuesday.

Terminal 1 saw the largest increase with 4.79 million passengers passing through, 22 per cent more than the 3.9 million travellers recorded a year earlier.

The number of aircraft landings and take-offs were flat in June with 84,488 movements.

“January and March have been the busiest period for Abu Dhabi International Airport in the first half of the year, with passenger traffic crossing two million in both of these months,” Abu Dhabi Airports acting chief executive Abdul Majeed Al Khoori said in a statement. “We are encouraged by the figures from the six months of 2016, which demonstrate continued growth year-on-year.”

But the number of passengers passing through the airport in June was flat with 13,298 more travellers than in the same month last year. The airport handled 1.86 million passengers in June 2016. The number of movements dropped by 4.6 per cent to 13,758.

India’s financial capital Mumbai was the most popular destination in June. The 70,312 passengers that flew between Abu Dhabi and Mumbai were 22 per cent more than in June the previous year. Meanwhile, the Doha and Jeddah routes each recorded a 12 per cent increase in monthly passenger numbers.

The amount of cargo passing through the airport continues to decline with both June and the half-year down by about 6 per cent.

A new terminal building is currently under construction and will increase total airport capacity to around 40 million passengers a year when it opens at the end of 2017.