In October 2013, a Wizz Air A320 from Budapest made headlines when it arrived at Al Maktoum International Airport (also known as Dubai World Central) as the first commercial passenger flight.
Located about 20 miles southwest of downtown Dubai, the new ‘greenfield’ airport is designed to be the world’s largest and busiest airport in the future.
Dubai International (DXB) and the new airport are managed by the Dubai Airports Authority. They said that when Al Maktoum International is completed, it will be able to transport more than 160 million passengers as well as 12 million tons of cargo annually. It will be the world’s busiest airport, handling about 63 million more passengers than Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International in the United States.
Nearly a decade after initial passenger flights and 13 years including the pandemic, Dubai’s new airport is still in the works.
Airport of the ‘Future’
The ‘Dubai Air Show’ held at the Al Maktoum International Airport in 2023 managed to create some intriguing ideas about the airport relationship as well as create some curiosity about its future.
“We have prioritised expansion and investment at DXB to meet the needs and plans of our customers. This will continue until all possibilities are exhausted,” Dubai Airports Chief Executive Officer Paul Griffiths told CNN. Griffiths added, “The plan is to maximize DXB’s current capabilities through innovative technologies and solutions.”
He said that efforts are underway to increase DXB’s current capacity of 100 million passengers to 120 million.
He also added, “We are making our airport bigger because more people will be interested in using it. In 2023, we estimate about 86.8 million people will use it. We estimate about 88.2 million in 2024 and About 93.8 million passengers will use it by 2025.”
Griffiths did not give a specific time frame, but said an entirely new airport may be needed by 2030 to handle increased traffic. He is excited about future plans, calling it an ‘exciting prospect’. Griffiths told reporters at the Dubai Air Show that they have already developed designs for the new airport. The large model of the airport that was shown to everyone at the air show, although a little old, gave an idea of the new airport having six runways and three large terminals.
Today, we approved the designs for the new passenger terminals at Al Maktoum International Airport, and commencing construction of the building at a cost of AED 128 billion as part of Dubai Aviation Corporation’s strategy.
Al Maktoum International Airport will enjoy the… pic.twitter.com/oG973DGRYX
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 28, 2024
Entire City to be developed around airport
The airport will be the centerpiece of a major project called Dubai South. According to the project, an entirely new city is envisaged to be built on 145 square kilometers of desert just south of Dubai. Some parts of this new plan have already started to take shape. Eight zones will be created here, combining residential and commercial areas, each zoned for a different function with specific industries.
An entire ‘aerotropolis‘ will be created with the airport at the center of the whole plan.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid (MBR) Aerospace Hub, the host of Dubai’s aviation and aerospace industry ecosystem, will play a key role in the implementation of this plan, including the recently completed 950 million(USD) Emirates Engineering Centre.
The biggest change is expected to happen when local carrier Emirates and its smaller partner flydubai relocate from the former Dubai International Airport to the new airport. While this move has been long overdue, it is still uncertain when it will happen. According to Nadine Itani, program leader in aviation management at the University of Surrey in England, Emirates’ move to DWC means moving a lot with it.
“This is a strategic realignment in response to the changing dynamics of global air travel and global markets,” she said.
There is currently a race to invest in new and bigger airports in the region and no one wants to be left behind. Airlines in the region want to be a part of global travel and make cities that operate hubs big for business. They also wants to make the city a better destination for travel. For this the new and exciting airport is a good effort.
Qatar’s Hamad International Airport, inaugurated in 2014, is a direct competitor to Dubai and is expected to handle 60 million passengers annually.
Larger airports have opened in the region and many airports have been redesigned to accommodate more passengers. Notable among these are the opening of a new airport in Muscat, Oman at a cost of 1.8 billion(USD) in 2018, the construction of a new terminal at a cost of 1.1 billion(USD) in Bahrain in 2021, and most recently in November 2023, a new terminal built in Abu Dhabi covering an area of 780,000 square kilometers. which is capable of handling 79 aircraft simultaneously.
At the northern end of the Gulf, Kuwait International Airport is building a new terminal designed by renowned British architectural firm Foster + Partners that will initially have the capacity to handle 25 million passengers per year. It is likely to double to 50 million in future.
Located less than 20 miles from downtown Dubai, Sharjah International Airport has grown to an annual passenger capacity of 20 million.
Saudi Arabia is working on a massive airport expansion as part of Vision 2030 to boost the country’s air connectivity and make it one of the world’s top tourist destinations. 100 billion(USD) has been allocated for its implementation.
So the competition to reach the top spot as an international airport has become tougher than ever.
