Passenger traffic more than doubles at DWC.

• Position: Dubai World Central in United Arab Emirates

Passenger traffic at Dubai World Central (DWC) more than doubled in the first half of 2019 as many flights had to be diverted there while a runway was closed at the city's main airport. Operator Dubai Airports said passenger traffic jumped to 1.2 million from 517,813 in the same half of 2018.

This was during a 45-day closure of the southern runway at Dubai International Airport from April 16 to May 30. More than 900,000 of the 1.2 million passengers in the first half were recorded in that 45-day period, or the equivalent of the airport's entire annual passenger traffic in 2018.

"The 45-day period was a major challenge for DWC as the airport had to accommodate a massive spike in both...