Dubai World Central (DWC) saw its passenger numbers drop 2.3 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019 to 326,680, with the airport citing fluctuation in charter operations as the reason for the dip.

The top regions that witnessed heavy passenger traffic from Dubai during the first three months of the year was Russia, which accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the traffic at DWC during Q1 with 167,934 passengers. Other major destination countries included Germany (71,162 passengers), Romania (21,097 passengers) and Hungary (12,044 passengers). Some of DWC’s top destination cities during the quarter were Moscow (89,856 passengers), Bucharest (17,113 passengers), and Dusseldorf (12,387 passengers).

A total of 7,899 flights took off or landed at DWC during Q1 - a 3.2 per cent dip year-on-year. DWC moved a total of 43,114 tonnes of freight in Q1, a year-on-year decline of 9.3 per cent.

Outlook

Passenger volumes at DWC are expected to spike in the second quarter as a direct result of a number of international airlines starting operations there following the closure of one of Dubai International’s two runways for a major refurbishment from April 16 to May 30. The 45-day period is a great opportunity for DWC to showcase its newly expanded facilities that can now accommodate up to 26.5 million passengers, the airport said in a statement.

DWC is served by 11 passenger airlines which operate an average of 146 weekly flights to 31 international destinations. It is also home to 18 cargo operators that fly to as many as 45 cities around the world. - TradeArabia News Service