Passenger traffic at Dubai World Central surges 95% in H1 2016

dubai - Flydubai is mainly responsible for driving up passenger count

Dubai World Central (DWC) witnessed a sharp rise in passenger traffic led by flydubai in the first six months of 2016, with more than 95 per cent growth compared to the same period in 2015, its operator Dubai Airports announced on Monday.

Passenger traffic at Dubai’s second airport during the first half of 2016 reached 410,278 passengers compared to 209,989 passengers in H1 2015 — a 95.4 per cent growth.

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. The airline will increase its weekly flights from DWC for the upcoming winter schedule.

“The sharp rise in traffic at DWC driven by flydubai not only indicates the strength of flydubai’s ability to operate robustly out of two airports, it also highlights the desire by passengers to use the less congested and newer airport,” Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, told Khaleej Times.

DWC is currently served by 17 passenger airlines, operating an average of 174 flights weekly to 39 international destinations and is home to 34 scheduled cargo operators that fly to 141 destinations.

Ahmad added that Dubai World Central plays an integral role for new airline capacity growth. As flydubai gears up for its full transition to DWC late next year, demand for travel to and through this hub becomes ever more important.

The surge in passenger operations at DWC contributed significantly to aircraft movements, which totalled 18,126 in the first half of 2016, up 4.8 per cent compared to 17,302 movements recorded during H1 2015.

“With almost 100 routes under its belt, flydubai cargo too will provide a capacity boost to freight operations and better fit with road and sea shipments via the nearby port of Jebel Ali,” Ahmad said.

During the January to June period, freight volumes at DWC totalled 430,132 tonnes, a contraction of 2.9 per cent compared to the first half of 2015 when the airport handled 443,011 tonnes of freight.

“We are very pleased with the way DWC has performed in the first half and look forward to all-round growth during the remainder of the year. Already one of the world’s top 20 international cargo hubs, we hope to see DWC play an increasingly important role for passenger operations as it undergoes expansion to accommodate 26 million passengers by 2018,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.

— abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com