Abu Dhabi Airports plans to increase the number of direct flights from Zayed International Airport to India, expanding connections from 17 Indian cities to 22 in August. The move follows growing demand for travel between the two countries, with a senior executive saying Indian passenger traffic is rising by more than 20% each year. He also says Abu Dhabi Airports has capacity to add more services, but is constrained by the availability of traffic rights. The announcement is tied to new routes being launched or introduced by airlines including Air India Express. Air India Express has started flights to Abu Dhabi from Navi Mumbai, Indore and Lucknow, and it is set to begin services from Guwahati next month. Other carriers already operating between India and Abu Dhabi include IndiGo and Akasa Air. Abu Dhabi Airports says Indian traffic totals nearly 7 million passengers and accounts for about 24% of the airport group’s traffic, with most passengers traveling point-to-point. Separate reporting also notes that, in late June, Zayed International Airport handled more than 93,000 passengers on average and nearly 500 flights per day, connecting travellers to over 100 destinations worldwide.