Dubai: Dubai World Central (DWC) saw an increase in passenger traffic across 2016, with visitors increasing by 84.5 per cent, according to a statement issued by operator Dubai Airports on Tuesday.
The airport welcomed a total of 850,633 passengers in 2016, up 84.5 per cent compared to 461,063 passengers recorded in 2015.
Growth in this area was predominantly driven by local carrier flydubai. Flydubai operates approximately 41 weekly flights to five destinations from DWC.
In addition to passenger numbers, air freight volumes at DWC edged up marginally during 2016 to 897,998 tonnes, up 0.8 per cent year-on-year. Cargo volumes registered strong growth in the final quarter with 252,300 tonnes of air freight, up 10.3 per cent compared to Q4 of 2015.
Aircraft movements at DWC, however, contracted in 2016, from 40,947 movements in 2015 to 38,671 aircraft movements in 2016, a decrease of 5.6 per cent. Aircraft movements, otherwise known as an aircraft take-off or landing at an airport, during the fourth-quarter of 2016 was down 21 per cent compared to Q4 of 2015.
“After having emerged as one of the top 20 international cargo hubs, DWC is now growing steadily in stature as a passenger hub, and we are pleased with the growth in passenger traffic in 2016. Considering the unique proposition DWC offers to airlines … not to forget the expansion project underway that will more than quadruple its capacity to 26 million passengers by next year — we expect the growth trend to continue this year, and beyond,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, in a statement.
