The first scheduled passenger services from Dubai’s Al Maktoum International airport will launch in October, with Wizzair and Saudi carrier Nas Air set to become the first to use the airport.
Dubai World Central Al Maktoum International airport (to give it its full name) launched cargo services in June 2010, and from October 27 this year will welcome its first scheduled passenger flights.
Wizzair will offer four times-weekly services from the airport to Budapest and Kiev, as well as three times-weekly flights to Bucharest and Sofia, while Nas Air will operate around 50 flights per week to several destinations in Saudi Arabia.
Business Traveller's Middle East edition attended a press conference in Dubai this morning, and has published several quotes from Wizzair's CEO József Váradi on its Twitter page.
Varadi said that he expected Wizzair to carry "at least 250,000 passengers" on its UAE network in the first year, and added that in the long term he sees Dubai World Central as a "potential operating base", with the airport having "a better location" and being "less congested" than Dubai International.
Dubai Airport’s CEO Paul Griffiths is also quoted by local media as saying that:
“The introduction of passenger services from Dubai World Central is the first step in the long term development of the airport and will provide an attractive alternative to travellers. We look forward to announcing additional airlines and services in the months to come.”
According to Dubai World Central’s website, phase 1 of the airport is now complete, with an A380-compatible, 4.5km runway capable of handling flights 24 hours per day, with 64 aircraft stands and a 66,000 sqm, single-level passenger terminal.
Once fully completed the airport will be capable of handling up to 160 million passengers per year, with five parallel runways handling simultaneous landings or take offs.
The Dubai Airshow will also take place at Dubai World Central for the first time this November.
It was recently announced that Dubai’s current main airport – Dubai International – became the third busiest airport for international passenger traffic in 2012, overtaking Hong Kong International airport.
The news of the launch of passenger services from Al Maktoum airport follows the recent delay to the soft opening of Doha’s new Hamad International airport, which had been scheduled for April 1.
For more information visit wizzair.com, flynas.com, dwc.ae.
Report by Mark Caswell
