Freight volumes at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC) recorded nearly 500 per cent growth in the third quarter of 2014, according to a traffic report issued by its operator Dubai Airports.

DWC recorded 243,284 tonnes of freight in the third quarter, a sharp increase of 462.5 per cent from 43,252 tonnes recorded during the corresponding period in 2013.

The spike, fuelled mainly by the completion of the shift of all pure cargo flights, including Emirates SkyCargo, from Dubai International to Al Maktoum International (DWC) in May this year. The year-to-date cargo in September reached 519,851 tonnes, up 255.6 per cent from 146,181 tonnes recorded during the first nine months of 2013.

Passenger numbers totalled 155,997 in the third quarter as a result of temporary flights operated by some passenger airlines during the runway upgrade project at Dubai International between May 1 and July 20. The year to date passenger traffic (Jan-Sept) totalled 734,126.

Aircraft movements in the third quarter totalled 10,784 compared to 6,686 movements during the same period last year, an increase of 61.3 per cent. Increase in both the passenger and freight operations in recent months, year to date (Jan-Sept) aircraft movements also climbed sharply to 35,968 movements, up 112.5 per cent from 16,923 movements recorded in the first nine months of 2013.

Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said: “The permanent relocation of pure cargo operators to DWC as well as the influx of cargo charter flights will continue to drive the growth in freight volumes at DWC and we are working to expand our facilities to accommodate the anticipated growth.”

“We expect passenger traffic to return to Q1 levels in the fourth quarter as all temporary operations – which contributed substantially to passenger numbers this quarter – have already returned to Dubai International,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service