The UAE’s main airports handled 17.3 per cent more passengers in the first four months of the year compared to a year earlier as local airlines add more capacity to their networks. A total of 37.84 million passengers arrived, transferred and departed at airports in the country from January to April compared to 32.24 million a year ago, according to data from federal regulator, the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). Abu Dhabi International, home to rapidly expanding Etihad Airways, and Dubai International, home to one of the world’s largest carriers, Emirates, accounted for the bulk of additional passengers. Dubai International, which last year overtook London’s Heathrow to become the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic, saw a 14 per cent rise in passenger numbers to 27.5 million.