Passenger traffic at Dubai World Central (DWC) increased by more than 95 per cent in the first half of 2016, according to a report issued by Dubai Airports. The first six months of the year saw passenger traffic reach a total of 410,278, up 95.4 per cent compared to 209,989 passengers recorded during the corresponding period in 2015. Passenger traffic at DWC is mainly driven by flydubai that operates 35 weekly flights to five destinations from DWC. The airline will increase its weekly flights from DWC for the upcoming winter schedule. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said: “We are very pleased with the way DWC has performed in the first half and look forward to all round growth during the remainder of the year. Already one of the world’s top 20 international cargo hubs, we hope to see DWC play an increasingly important role for passenger operations as it undergoes expansion to accommodate 26 million passengers by 2018.” DWC is currently served by 17 passenger carriers, operating an average of 174 flights weekly to 39 international destinations and is home to 34 scheduled cargo operators that fly to as many as 141 destinations around the world. The surge in passenger operations at DWC contributed significantly to aircraft movements which totalled 18,126 in the first half of the year, up 4.8 per cent compared to 17,302 movements recorded during the first six months of 2015. During the period under review freight volumes at DWC totalled 430,132 tonnes, a contraction of 2.9 per cent compared to the first half of 2015 when the airport handled 443,011 tonnes of freight.