Passenger traffic at Dubai World Central surged to 1.2 million during the first half of 2019, compared to 517,813 during the same period in 2018.

The increase follows the transfer of some flights by a number of airlines during the closure of Dubai International’s southern runway for rehabilitation from April 16th to May 30th.

More than 900,000 of the total traffic in the first half was recorded just during the 45-day period, which is equal to the airport’s entire annual passenger traffic in 2018.

Accounting for more than a quarter of the traffic, the south Asia region was the single largest contributor to traffic at DWC during half one with 379,851 customers, closely followed by CIS with 312,083 passengers and the GCC with 281,184 customers.

Other significant contributors include eastern Europe and western Europe with more than 100,000 customers each.

A total of 22,127 flights took off or landed at DWC during the first half of the year, up 38 per cent year on year.

“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 ten flights a day to 80 flights on peak days.

“Thanks to the planning and collaboration between Dubai Airports and our service partners including dnata, the general directorate of residency and foreigners affairs, Dubai Police, flydubai and other airlines, we were able to turn the challenge into an opportunity and successfully showcase DWC as a fantastic airport that’s quick, efficient and convenient,” said Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports.