Dubai World Central’s Q3 passenger traffic surges a whopping 161%

dubai — Dubai World Central (DWC) is gaining ground in the region as a popular airport for passengers, with traffic surging 161 per cent in the third quarter, according to a report issued by Dubai Airports on Monday.

DWC welcomed 191,950 passengers during the July-September 2016 quarter compared to 73,466 passengers in the same quarter last year. The year-to-date traffic totalled 602,228 passengers, up 112 per cent compared to the first nine months of 2015.

Passenger traffic at DWC is mainly driven by flydubai, one of Dubai’s two flagship carriers, which, in addition to its operations at Dubai International’s Terminal 2, operates 35 weekly flights to five destinations from DWC. Qatar Airways and Wizz Air are the two other major airlines carrying out scheduled passenger operations from DWC.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said the project to expand the annual capacity of the passenger terminal at DWC from five million to 26 million passengers is under way and on track to be completed by the third quarter of 2017.

“This is only the beginning. By the end of next year, the airport will have seen tremendous growth as it becomes the new home for flydubai,” Griffiths said.

Airlines operate an average of 140 flights weekly to 10 international destinations from DWC, which is also home to 32 scheduled cargo operators that connect the airport to 107 destinations around the world.

Saj Ahmad, an analyst at London’s StrategicAero Research, said DWC’s growth propensity is now evident and the move by flydubai late next year will help make the airport become the prime nexus point for travel as the airport expands its capabilities.

“The surge in traffic thanks to flydubai demonstrates that passengers are indeed swayed by the ease of transit to and through DWC, if only because it’s far less congested than Dubai International,” Ahmad told Khaleej Times.

During the third quarter, DWC handled 215,556 tonnes of freight compared to 219,131 tonnes handled during the corresponding period in 2015, down 1.6 per cent. The year-todate cargo as at the end of September was 645,698 tonnes, a reduction of 2.5 per cent compared to 662,143 tonnes recorded during the first nine months of 2015.

Aircraft movements in the third quarter totalled 8,679 compared to 9,137 during the same period last year, a decrease of five per cent. Year-to-date aircraft movements in September reached 28,877, down 3.8 per cent from the 30,003 recorded in the first nine months of 2015.

— business@khaleejtimes.com

The surge in traffic demonstrates that passengers are indeed swayed by the ease of transit to and through dWC Saj Ahmad, analyst at London’s StrategicAero Research