Abu Dhabi Airports announced yesterday that it has achieved record commercial sales in the first six months of 2015, at Dh707.6 million, an impressive rise of 10.9% compared to the first six months of 2014.

The top performing categories were F&B and Duty Free, but there was also growth across all of the company's commercial activities, including specialty retail, hospitality, banking and currency exchange, car parking, advertising and the Skypark Plaza operations.

The reported increase in sales follows the launch of an intensive 2015 marketing campaign and focus on optimising the width and breadth of the commercial offerings. Abu Dhabi International Airport also saw the opening of a number of new retail outlets in the first half of 2015.

Abu Dhabi Airports' Acting Chief Commercial Officer, Dan Cappell, said, "The continued increase in sales is a reflection of our commitment to providing passengers with the diverse range of high quality services and offerings that they can expect at a major international airport, and having exceptional partnerships with our concessionaires. The performance is all the more noteworthy given the reduction in Chinese spending, the changing dynamics of the Asian economies, and the currency variations that impact the value for money offered.

"Abu Dhabi Duty Free, in conjunction with our partners, will continue to focus on improving the customer experience. Our retail and food and beverage refurbishment programme will enable us to offer our passengers the widest possible choice, through exclusive offers, product launches and innovative promotional campaigns, delivering great value and excellent customer service."