Dubai Airports, the company overseeing airport projects in the emirate, said in a statement Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum International (DWC) started with three cargo flights operated by Rus Aviation, Skyline and Aerospace Consortium, with 13 other freight carriers signed up. Phase one of DWC includes one runway capable of handling Airbus A380 superjumbos, 64 remote stands, one cargo terminal with capacity for 250,000 tons of cargo annually and a passenger terminal building capable of handling 5 million passengers a year.
When completed, the airport will have five runways, up to four terminal buildings and the capacity for 12 million tons of freight and 160 million passengers a year.
Completion of the up to $10.9 billion project is estimated to take 10 to 15 years.
Aviation accounts for about 25 percent of Dubai's GDP, Sheikh Ahmed said in May. The emirate's first airport, Dubai International, has the capacity to handle 2.5 million tons of cargo, while volumes are expected to increase by 48 percent to 3 million tons by 2015, the company said.
Signed up cargo carriers include Aban Air, ACI, Aviation Service Management, Coyne Airways, EuroAsian Services, Gatewick, Ramjet, Reem Style, Rial Aviation, Sonic Jet, SunGlobal.
"DWC opened with 15 cargo airlines signed up and we expect that number to increase steadily over the next few months," Griffiths said. (Reuters)
