DWC freight volume surges

DUBAI World Central (DWC) recorded a 262.5 per cent surge in freight volumes to 758,371 tonnes in 2014 at its Al Maktoum International Airport compared with 209,209 tonnes in the previous year.

Dubai Airports, in its year-end traffic report, attributes the surge to completion of the shift of all freighter operators from Dubai to DWC in May.

Q4 cargo volumes at Al Maktoum International Airport totalled 238, 520 tonnes, up 278.4 per cent compared with the same period in 2013.

Meanwhile, DWC welcomed 845,046 passengers in its first full year of passenger operations.

Suez Canal cuts discount

THE Suez Canal Authority said transit tolls would remain steady in 2015, except for a reduction in the discount for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

Authority chairman Mohab Mahmish told a news conference that the discount for LNG carriers had been set at 25 per cent, down from 35 per cent in 2014.

The strategic waterway, the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia, is a barometer for international trade.

CPL to manage Oman hub

CENTRE Point Logistics (CPL), a logistics, warehousing, and storage provider in Dubai, UAE, has signed a deal with Sohar Port and Freezone in Oman.

It will manage a 50,000-sq-m plot of land in the free zone, with its Open Architecture model.

Saleh Saeed Lootah, CPL chairman, said the Oman deal brought his firm closer to expansion in Saudi Arabia.

Logwin ferries seats

GERMANY-based Logwin AG recently transported 15,300 stadium seats and 100 tables to Qatar for the Handball World Championship.

 The event was held at the newly-built sports hall in Lusail near Doha.

Some 30 tonnes of furniture were airfreighted from China and Malaysia.

“The total volume was huge, which is why we split the goods up into eight air freight shipments,” said an official.

“That made it easier to book the freight space as well as to arrange the onward transportation from Doha,” he noted.