Dubai’s second airport has dramatically increased traffic by almost 50 percent already this year, Dubai Airports has revealed.
Aircraft movements at Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central (DWC) rose 46 per cent to 16,923 during the first nine months of the year.
The third quarter saw traffic soar 63 per cent to 6,686 movements, compared to 4,097 during the same period in 2012. The increase was due to a surge in general aviation and training flights, Dubai Airports said in a statement.
However, freight volumes have failed to experience the same mammoth growth, declining 11.3 percent during the same period.
The decline to 43,252 tonnes was due to fluctuations in charter operations and freight volumes stabilising after rapid growth in the first few years of cargo operations at the airport, the statement said. DWC first opened for freight operations in June 2010.
“It is not unusual for new airports to see fluctuations in cargo traffic particularly from charter airlines,” Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said.
“However, this volatility will be short-lived as the level of scheduled freighter traffic is set to increase substantially next year.”
Emirates SkyCargo has confirmed that all dedicated freight flights will be operated from its new base at DWC when it opens in May 2014, while Air France-KLM relocated its regional hub to the airport in August this year.
Dubai Airports also is in discussions with a number of other airlines about commencing freighter operations at DWC.
Passenger services began on October 27 with the Dubai launch of low-cost carrier Wizz Air.
Jazeera Airways (two flights per week), Gulf Air (daily) and Qatar Airways (twice daily) also are due to soon start additional services using Al Maktoum.
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