DWC cargo traffic continues to climb

2 Sept., 2015

Dubai: Dubai World Central (DWC) said on Tuesday that cargo volumes at Al Maktoum International continued to rise sharply during the first half of 2015. Simultaneously the airport has been named the 19th top cargo airport worldwide from the 20th earlier this year.

According to a statement from Dubai Airport, freight volumes increased by 42 per cent in the first half of 2015 to 443,012 tonnes, up from the 311,365 tonnes achieved in the same period last year. It added that the growth was driven by Dubai Airports’ decision in 2014 to relocate all dedicated freighters from Dubai International to DWC.

It said that passenger traffic was 209,989 during the first half of 2015 — 64 per cent less than the corresponding period in 2014.

The airport body further stated that Dubai Airports will by 2018 expand the capacity of the existing passenger terminal at DWC, from 5 million passengers to 26 million to accommodate future passenger growth. The expansion aims to create the world’s biggest airport.

In the statement, the airport said that aircraft movements totalled 20,866 in the first half of 2015, which is a 17 per cent decrease in comparison to 2014.

DWC will offer passengers a total of 190 weekly flights to 17 destinations as soon as 70 weekly flydubai flights to seven new destinations commence this October,