“This is an important milestone, not only for the airport’s certification process, but as another step towards achieving Dubai’s vision to become the pre-eminent center for aviation worldwide,” said HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Dubai Airports.

“It’s also a testament to the cooperation and dedication of all of the organizations and stakeholders involved, who have done an impressive job of building and preparing Phase 1 of the facility for launch in a very short time frame,” he added.

Ram Menen, Emirates' divisional senior vice president cargo, commented: “The test was an unmitigated success not only for Emirates SkyCargo, but most importantly for our customer Swift Freight. The fact that the airport is connected to Jebel Ali Port and Free Zone by a bonded road which cuts transfer times significantly is a strong sales point."

Menen added that although the airline's cargo hub will remain at Dubai International, DWC will provide a resource for customer-driven "spot cargo operations" prior to the introduction of scheduled services.

When completed, DWC is expected to be the largest airport in the world with five runways, four terminal buildings and capacity for 160 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo per year. The facility opens initially for cargo services with passenger operations slated to start at the end of March 2011.

Dnata Cargo, which handles 120 airlines at Dubai international airport, will provide the ground handling services to all airlines at DWC. Dnata's first terminal, dubbed FreightGate 8, will have an annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes and includes a 1,000 cubic meter chiller and freezer storage facility.

Dnata's DACS+ software will provide processing and tracking and is linked to Dubai Customs E-Mirsal, the internet-based Calogi portal, Dnata customer care center and most major airlines.

Dubai Airports reports a 31.7 percent increase in cargo traffic for May year on year with a throughout of 195,221 tonnes. Year to date cargo volume was up 27 percent over the same period in 2009 at 917,280 tonnes.

“The outlook remains strong as we expect traffic during June and September to hit record levels owing to the onset of the summer travel season,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports.