How Dubai split air cargo between DXB and DWC before the pandemic

Both airports handled less freight in 2019

DXB's published annual tonnage fell 4.8% and DWC's fell 7.7%. DXB's first quarter bucked its annual direction by rising 4.1%, while DWC reported lower freight in all four quarters. Source 1

The airports carried different freight mixes

Dubai Airports says dedicated freight operators had moved to DWC by May 2014, while DXB continued to carry substantial freight in the holds of passenger aircraft. In 2019 DXB still handled nearly three-quarters of their combined reported tonnage. Source 1

Pandemic routing altered the operating baseline

The operator temporarily moved cargo operations back to DXB from early 2020. It reports that freighter operations moved back to DWC by March 2022. A comparison that crosses these years needs to account for how the operator assigned flights between airports. Source 1

Future capacity is a separate measure

Dubai Airports describes bonded transfers between DWC and Jebel Ali Port and a road feeder link between the two airports. The DWC expansion plans refer to potential ultimate capacity of 12 million cargo tonnes a year. That capacity describes a future design, while the historical table measures observed tonnage. Source 3 Source 2

Sources

• Dubai Airports cargo and logistics historical traffic tables
• Dubai Airports project profile for Dubai World Central
• Dubai Airports air cargo facilities and bonded links