Sheikh said "YES": Dubai will have a new mega airport for 260 mln passengers
A decade has passed since shortly after the first commercial flights from Dubai World Airport started in 2013 [...]
Emirates
DXB
United Arab Emirates
It has been a decade or so since the, shortly after the launch in 2013 of the first commercial flights from the airport in Dubai World Central, also known as Dubai Al Maktoum International, the sheikh of the emirate announced for the first time that that would become the world's largest airport, with six runways and a capacity of about 260 million passengers.
In this article:
The project, which included the transfer of most flights from Dubai International to the new mega-hub by 2025, came however put on standby in 2019 for (incredible to say, given the money they have over there) financial issues. Covid's arrival in 2020 further prolonged the standby, with Dubai World Central continuing to live off hectic cargo traffic and sporadic passenger flights (including, recently, Those operated by BeOnd along the journey between Europe and the Maldives.).
But, Sunday, April 28, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced his government's approval of a new project that will transform the airport located 40 kilometers south of downtown Dubai into one of the world's largest airports.
Yep, no longer 'the biggest' (as it was announced ten years ago), but 'one of the biggest' because when it is ready it will be in the company of the Istanbul airport now completed in all its phases, as well as that of Riyadh, future base of the future Saudi airline Riyadh Air.
Either way, the Emirati stopover will leave you speechless in size and look. It will have a capacity of 260 million passengers per year, or about two and a half times that of the existing Dubai International; will be 'smeared' on 5 terminal, including a main terminal where there will be the check-in area and facilities in charge of security and immigration as well as part of the gates, flanked by four 'satellites' connected by an automated 24-hour train.
There will be a total of 400 boarding gates and the total terminal area will be five times that of all the terminals now existing at Dubai International combined. There will be five runways in all, instead of the two at the existing airport, with simultaneous operations allowed on four of the five.
Sheikh, in making the announcement, specified that. the cost of the huge infrastructure will be 128 million Dirham (equivalent to $34.87 billion), but did not provide an exact date for the completion of the work. He did, however, explain that within the next ten years much of the operations will be transferred from Dubai International at the new airport, which by then should already have a capacity of about 150 million passengers a year.
Looking at the renderings that were released at the announcement, we can see how, Compared with the project hatched a decade ago, the terminal structure is much 'lighter' and similar to that of the new Abu Dhabi terminal., with sinuous, light lines that make them resemble huge sails.
Transferring at least some of the traffic to the new infrastructure will be essential in the years ahead to overcome the capacity constraints of the airport that exists today in Dubai, which with the 87 million passengers transited in 2023 (second largest port of call in the world) Has now reached its operational limits both in terms of the capacity of its terminals and that of its aprons and runways. And that, as it is now surrounded by the city's overbearing urban development, it has no room to 'grow'.
As it stands today, Dubai World Central is Emirates Cargo's hub and one of the world's most important cargo airports, for connections and tonnage.
As for passengers, it boasts a modest terminal lacking jet bridges and is served mostly by Russian airlines (Pobeda, Rossiya, S7 Ural Airlines, Utair) landing herds of chilled Russians in the sun and heat. Others include (on a seasonal basis) Poland's Enter Air, Luxair, and Smartwings.
Dutch low-cost carrier Transavia has announced that it will begin flying there from Amsterdam starting March 30, 2025. The airport, which opened in 2010, Has a single runway 4,500 meters long.
