DWC passenger traffic doubles in first half on DXB runway closure

Al Maktoum International Airport handled more than 900,000 passengers during a 45-day period, equal to its entire traffic for 2018

Dubai World Central airport terminal. Courtesy Dubai Airports

Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport said passenger traffic in the first half of the year more than doubled as it handled flights rerouted from Dubai International Airport during a period of runway closures.

Dubai's second hub, known as DWC, handled 1.2 million passengers in the first six months of the year, an increase of 141 per cent from the prior-year period, operator Dubai Airports said on Tuesday.

"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,"  said Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports. "We were able to turn the challenge into an opportunity."

Dubai International closed one of its two runways for 45 days starting April 16 to complete upgrade work on the southern runway. Airlines either scrapped some flights or redirected their services to DWC.

More than 900,000 of the total traffic in the first half was recorded during the 45-day period, or the equivalent of DWC's entire annual passenger traffic in 2018, according to Dubai Airports.

More than a quarter of the traffic into the hub for the six months came from South Asia, the single biggest contributor to numbers at DWC, with 379,851 passengers. The CIS region of Eastern European and Central Asian states was the second-busiest region, and the Arabian Gulf was third.

Russia was the top destination country, with passengers numbers exceeding 293,100, followed by Saudi Arabia, India and Germany, Dubai Airports said.

Among DWC's top destination cities during the first half were Moscow, Jeddah and Karachi.

DWC recorded a 5.3 per cent decline in air freight to 450,000 tonnes, blaming a "softening of the overall air cargo market".

The US-China trade dispute and protectionist measures are taking their toll on the global cargo business and rising costs for fuel, labour and infrastructure are squeezing margins, Alexandre de Juniac, director general of industry body the International Air Transport Association, said in June.