Passenger traffic at Dubai World Central (DWC), Dubai’s second international hub, grew an impressive 29.5 per cent during the first quarter of 2017 with 333,780 passengers passing through the facility compared to 257,813 in the same period in 2016, data showed.
 
“DWC is starting to make its mark as an emerging regional hub. We expect to surpass the 1 million passenger mark for the first time this year with 1.1 million expected to use the airport in 2017,” said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths.
 
According to Dubai Airports, which released its 2017 forecast for DWC passenger numbers, the top five destinations served by DWC (in terms of total passenger numbers) during the first three months of the year were Doha, Moscow, Kathmandu, Amman and Budapest. Aircraft movements at DWC (passenger, cargo, general aviation and helicopters) totalled 9,811, down 8.9 per cent over the 10,774 recorded during the first quarter of 2016.
 
Air freight volumes at DWC increased 6.5 per cent during the first three months of the year with 211,144 tonnes being handled compared to 198,295 during the same period last year. After first opening for cargo in June 2010, DWC is already ranked as the 20th busiest airport globally for international air freight volumes.
 
DWC is currently served by 18 passenger carriers, operating an average of 103 flights weekly to 24 international destinations and is home to 42 scheduled cargo operators that fly to as many as 108 destinations around the world.
 
“The expansion of the existing passenger terminal building is well underway and will boost capacity at DWC to 26 million passengers by next year,” added Griffiths. “DWC remains an important element of our strategy to provide timely capacity to accommodate passenger and cargo traffic growth. DWC offers airlines easy availability of slots, quick turn-around times and access to new catchment area while passengers benefit from short walking distances and quit transit times though the airport.” - TradeArabia News Service