Emirates dnata to build new cargo terminal at DWC

DUBAI, Oct 4 (Gulf News): Emirates Group's dnata will start construction on a new cargo terminal at Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central (DWC) in the second quarter next year, Jon Conway, senior vice president - UAE airport operations, told Gulf News this week the terminal is in the final design stage and could have an ultimate annual capacity of between 1 and 1.6 million tonnes.
Initial proposed capacity is 500,000 tonnes a year and construction on the modular designed terminal would be completed by the end of 2016.
Conway declined to state the size of investment citing commercial reasons because the project is yet to go out to tender.
Conway also said dnata will be spending around Dh20 million for ground support equipment and lounge development for Dubai International's new Concourse D, which will open next year and take the airports annual capacity from 75 million passengers a year to 90 million.
The new dnata terminal will be used to handle cargo from other airlines landing at DWC. The announcement follows the opening of a dedicated terminal earlier this year for Emirates' SkyCargo operations at the airport located in the south of the emirate. Emirates' DWC cargo terminal can handle 700,000 tonnes of capacity a year, according to previous statement from the airline, and has the potential to be expanded to 1 million tonnes of annual capacity.
Conway's comments are the latest announcement in the development of DWC airport. Last month, Dubai Airports announced a $32 billion (Dh117 billion) expansion of the DWC that is due for completion in six to eight years. Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports chief executive, has previously said he would expect construction would need to start before the end of 2014.