A record 32.5 million passengers in 2025 — up 12.8%, the fastest-growing mega airport in EMEA — on Etihad’s biggest expansion year ever. Terminal A, opened in 2023, already holds 45 million of capacity; the master plan reaches for 65.
Zayed International closed 2025 with 32.5 million passengers, +12.8%, in only its second full year in Terminal A — accounting for roughly 98% of the emirate’s traffic. The five-airport system passed 33 million for the first time; several days crossed 100,000 passengers.
Q4 was the strongest quarter at 8.59 million (+13.8%). Growth has now run double-digit for nineteen consecutive periods; traffic has doubled in three years.
The base carrier drove the record: Etihad carried 22.4 million passengers in 2025 — its highest annual total ever, +21% — at an 88.3% load factor on the largest fleet in its history (127 aircraft), launching 39 routes from Atlanta to Hanoi.
Seven airlines joined the airport in 2025 — China Eastern, Ethiopian, Eurowings, Jazeera among them — as the network passed 100 destinations; daily volumes now average above 93,000 passengers on nearly 500 flights.
Abu Dhabi Airports is preparing a detailed expansion master plan with construction due to start in late 2027: Terminal A’s 45-million design capacity is to rise to 65 million. Cargo is climbing in parallel — nearly 770,000 tonnes in 2025, +12%.
A 45-million terminal that reached 32.5 million in its second year is infrastructure arriving on schedule — a Gulf rarity. Abu Dhabi’s aviation story is simpler than Dubai’s: one airline, one airport, one direction. The 65-million plan is priced on Etihad continuing to grow faster than the hub that hosts it.
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