First-half traffic boost for Dubai World Central

Dubai World Central (DWC) – the emirate’s second airport and world’s future hub in the making – has reported a significant hike in passenger and cargo volumes for H1, 2018.

Operator Dubai Airports said the facility handled 475,190 tonnes of cargo in the first six months of the year compared to 443,835 in H1 2017, representing a rise of 7.1 percent.

At the same time, H1 passenger traffic at reached 517,813, with the top performing regions including the CIS (271,000 passengers) Eastern Europe (98,633 passengers), Western Europe (89,559) and the Middle East (49,671 passengers).

The average passenger per flight movement during the first half was 163 compared to 121 during the first half in 2017, an increase of 34.7 percent.

During the period under review, DWC was served by eight passenger carriers operating an average of 95 flights weekly to 14 international destinations and 26 scheduled cargo operators flying to as many as 70 destinations around the world.

Airlines using DWC included Dubai-based low-cost carrier (LCC) flydubai, which also operates out of the emirate’s biggest hub, Dubai International (DXB).

Built in the south of the city, close to the fast-growing areas of New Dubai such as Jumeirah Village Circle (JVC) and Jumeirah Village Triangle (JVT) where The First Group is currently developing hotel properties, DWC lies at the heart of an entire airport city.

Once completed it will be the world’s largest global gateway with capacity for more than 160 million passengers per year. It will also serve as a multi-modal logistics hub for 12 million tonnes of freight.

DWC is part of an aerotropolis – a 140-square-kilometre multi-phase development of six clustered zones that include Dubai Logistics City (DLC), Commercial City, Residential City, Aviation City and Golf City.