Dubai’s DWC posts 81.5% growth in passenger traffic in 2019

Dubai World Central (DWC) registered a 81.5 per cent rise in customer numbers in 2019, it announced on Tuesday, February 11.

DWC welcomed 1.634 million customers during 2019, compared to 900,202 passengers in 2018, primarily due to the relocation of several international carriers during the 45-day closure of Dubai International airport’s (DXB) southern runway, a statement said.

Read: Dubai’s DWC to see 700% rise in flights during DXB runway closure

DXB’s southern runway was shut down for complete refurbishment from April 16 to May 30, 2019, during which the number of passenger flights at DWC were expected to increase by 700 per cent.

Year on year traffic also increased in Q4 2019 as DWC welcomed 363,626 customers, compared to 263,026 in Q4 2018, mainly due to seasonal operations by chartered airlines, the statement said.

Top 2019 destinations
Top regions contributing to traffic growth at DWC last year were CIS (583,763), followed by South Asia (380,000), and the GCC (281,244).

Russia led in the top destination category with 549,806 customers, followed by Saudi Arabia (201,138) and India (193,900).

Meanwhile, top cities served by the DWC network entailed Moscow (253,092), Budapest (60,098) and Jeddah (55,873), the statement added.

DWC currently operates six passenger airlines which run an average of 30 weekly flights to 45 international destinations worldwide.

Cargo
DWC’s annual cargo volume reached 911,571 tonnes in 2019, dropping 7.7 per cent from 987,986 in 2018.

In Q4 2019, DWC’s cargo reached 234,741 tonnes of freight. DWC is also home to 17 cargo operators that fly to 45 cities globally.

DWC welcomed passengers on October 27, 2013 with Wizz Air as the launch airline. Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways commenced flights on October 31, 2013 while Gulf Air began its service on December 8, 2013.