The world’s busiest international airport in Dubai will see its operations transferred to a new airport five times its size, within the next ten years, the state’s leader has said.
Too big for its own good?
The remarkable post-Covid recovery and success of Dubai’s tourist sector, as well as its flagship airline Emirates, has been a beacon for the wider world industries, but it has meant arrivals in numbers that are straining its airport at its seams.
Real estate sales are beating records and in 2023, the city hosted 17.15 million international overnight visitors, up 20% on 2022. Meanwhile, Dubai International (DXB) welcomed 86.9 million passengers, well beyond both 2019 benchmarks and the capacity for which the airport was built.
260 million flyers per year
Now, after several years in the pipeline, it has been confirmed that the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport, around 45 kilometers (28 miles) from DXB, is to go ahead. Opened in 2010 with just one terminal, and until now mostly serving cargo and private flights, Al Maktoum is surrounded by desert and so can expand – unlike Dubai which is city-locked.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the city state’s Dubai’s Prime Minister and Vice President announced on X that approval had been given for the new airport designs on 28 April. Worth $35 billion dollars, the project is set to use cutting edge tech and give Dubai the capacity to handle 260 million flyers per year, passing through a sinuous white terminal building with 400 gates to choose from, and landing and taking off on five parallel runways.
An entire city around the airport
Dubai Airports’ CEO, Paul Griffiths, said in a statement the project would contribute to the city’s growth which “has always been hand in hand with the growth of its aviation infrastructure and today we see another bold step on that journey.”
Boasting that just like DXB, the new Al Maktoum airport would be the world’s busiest, Sheikh Mohammed also noted the development would be looking to “host the world’s leading companies in the logistics and air transport sectors” and that the move is all part of a wider strategy to push into Dubai South. “As we build an entire city around the airport,” the Prime Minister said, “demand for housing for a million people will follow.”
“We are building a new project for future generations, ensuring continuous and stable development for our children and their children in turn. Dubai will be the world’s airport, its port, its urban hub, and its new global center,” he said.
