Dubai World Central passenger numbers top 1.2 million in H1
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports
Passenger traffic at Dubai World Central (DWC) surged to 1.2 million during the first half of 2019, compared to 517,813 during the same period in 2018.
The increase follows the transfer of some flights by a number of airlines during the closure of Dubai International’s (DXB) southern runway for rehabilitation from April 16 to May 30.
More than 900,000 of the total traffic in the first half was recorded just during the 45-day period, which is equal to the airport’s entire annual passenger traffic in 2018.
DWC welcomed a total of 1,248,506 passengers during the first half of 2019 (+141%).
Accounting for more than a quarter of the traffic, the South Asia region was the single largest contributor to traffic during H1 with 379,851 customers, closely followed by CIS with 312,083 and the GCC with 281,184. Other significant contributors include Eastern Europe and Western Europe with more than 100,000 customers each.
Russia was the top destination country during the first six months with customer numbers exceeding 293,100, followed by Saudi Arabia (201,138 customers), India (193,900) and Germany (89,416 passengers).
Some of DWC’s top destination cities during the first half were Moscow (165,367 customers), Jeddah (55,873), and Karachi (39,762).
A total of 22,127 flights took off or landed at DWC during H1 (+37.7% YoY).
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said: “The 45-day period was a major challenge for DWC as the airport had to accommodate a massive spike in both passenger and flight traffic – going overnight from 10 flights a day to 80 flights on peak days. Thanks to the planning and collaboration between Dubai Airports and our service partners including dnata, the General Directorate of Residency & Foreigners Affairs, Dubai Police, flydubai and other airlines, we were able to turn the challenge into an opportunity and successfully showcase DWC as a fantastic airport that’s quick, efficient and convenient.”
During DXB’s runway rehabilitation program DWC showcased its newly expanded facilities, which can now accommodate up to 26.5 million passengers annually.
The expanded airport includes 90 check-in counters, 24 departure gates, and five smart gates at arrivals.
DWC was served by 11 passenger airlines operating an average of 525 weekly flights to 31 international destinations during the peak 45 days between April and May.
.jpg?&resize.width=322&resize.height=483)
