Sharjah International Airport has reported an 8% rise in traffic in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period a year ago. Roughly 4.24 million passengers passed through the airporst in the first three quarters of '09, while the number of flights rose to a record 45,022 from 44,086 flights in 2008. The volume of cargo handled at the airport had reached 373,745 tons, with air cargo showing a slight increase to 35,646 tons during the period, the airport said.