Official plans have finally been revealed for a major expansion to Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport, which will replace Dubai International Airport within the next decade, and will become Emirates’ new home.
In this post:
Background on Dubai Al Maktoum Airport
For context, Dubai International Airport (DXB) is Dubai’s current major international airport, and already consistently ranks as one of the busiest airports in the world. In past years, it has been approaching handling 100 million passengers annually. This is largely thanks to Emirates’ route network, which has made Dubai a global hub.
Dubai has had bigger aspirations than this, though. Even though Abu Dhabi is just down the “road,” Dubai has a second airport, Dubai Al Maktoum Airport (DWC), which is commonly referred to as Dubai World Central Airport.
The airport technically opened in 2010, and the intent all along has been for Emirates to eventually relocate to this airport. However, things haven’t exactly gone as planned. The airport currently primarily handles cargo planes, and it’s also where Emirates parks many of its jets that aren’t flying (during the pandemic, the airport was basically a huge A380 and 777 parking lot).
The goal has been for the airport to eventually become the new hub in the region, and replace the existing airport. However, the government hasn’t really stayed consistent with that goal.
For example, the airport was initially supposed to be fully operational by 2017, though the global financial crisis caused that timeline to pushed back by a decade, to 2027. Then in 2019, expansion on the airport was frozen, as Dubai seemingly didn’t want to keep spending money on an airport with such an uncertain future. This came after 2018 was the slowest year of growth in the UAE since 2010. Then the pandemic hit, delaying these plans even more.
Dubai Al Maktoum Airport will see massive expansion
Today, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, has approved plans for new passenger terminals at Dubai Al Maktoum Airport, kicking off a 128 billion AED (~35 billion USD) project. The plan is for Dubai Al Maktoum Airport to become the largest in the world.
Once construction is complete, the airport will have a capacity of up to 260 million passengers per year. Size wise, the airport will be 70 square kilometers, five times the size of the current Dubai International Airport. Al Maktoum Airport will have five different passenger terminals, which will be able to accommodate up to 400 aircraft gates. The airport will also have a staggering five parallel runways.
Given how big of a hub this is, this will also cause Dubai to build an entire city around the airport in the coming years, as part of the Dubai South project, and that will include housing for a million additional people. As you can expect, public transportation to and from the airport will also be a priority, given that this is quite a bit south of downtown Dubai.
The plan is for all operations to move to the new Dubai Al Maktoum Airport within a decade, so by 2034, give or take. This will also be Emirates’ home, at that point.
I’m happy to see Dubai’s airport plans
The government of Dubai has been pushing off making a final decision on the new airport for a long time, so it’s a positive development that the government has finally committed to this.
The current Dubai International Airport is nearing capacity, and you can’t construct a new mega-airport overnight, so it was time for the government to make a decision one way or another. Not only does Emirates need a new airport in order to grow, but it even needs a new airport in order to maintain current capacity.
That’s because as Emirates increasingly evolves its fleet, it’ll need to fly more aircraft in order to carry the same number of passengers. Based on current estimates, Emirates will retire its Airbus A380s as of the mid-2030s, and will then fly Boeing 777s, Boeing 787s, and Airbus A350s, all of which are lower capacity.
I’m very curious to see what Emirates’ transition plan looks like when the new terminal does open, since it’ll be quite a major transformation. I imagine this will more or less be done overnight, given the extent to which Emirates’ network is reliant on connections. Then again, Emirates is far from the first airline to make a transition like this.
Design-wise, the new airport looks great. Frankly at this point, Dubai International Airport is rather uncompetitive in terms of passenger experience, compared to some other hubs in the region, so I can’t wait to learn more details there.
Bottom line
There are finally firm plans for airport operations in Dubai to shift from Dubai International Airport to Dubai Al Maktoum Airport. Construction is now starting on the world’s highest capacity passenger terminals, as Dubai Al Maktoum Airport should be able to accommodate 260 million passengers annually within the next decade. This airport will also become Emirates’ new home.
What do you make of plans for Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport?
Can it flote on water :)
In my opinion, 260 million passengers aren't important . It's a number ! In the next decade, it's not clear whether the aviation industry will survive or not . What is important is the points and stars for the airport services, which is currently Hamad is the best airport .
The World's Top 20 Airports for 2024 :
Doha Hamad Airport.
Singapore Changi Airport.
Seoul Incheon Airport.
Tokyo Haneda Airport.
Tokyo...
In my opinion, 260 million passengers aren't important . It's a number ! In the next decade, it's not clear whether the aviation industry will survive or not . What is important is the points and stars for the airport services, which is currently Hamad is the best airport .
The World's Top 20 Airports for 2024 :
Doha Hamad Airport.
Singapore Changi Airport.
Seoul Incheon Airport.
Tokyo Haneda Airport.
Tokyo Narita Airport.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Dubai Airport.
Munich Airport.
I often flew DOH-DWC on QR. Parking was free and there were never lines at the car rental locations. Then the 2017 Blockade started and QR's 3 flights a day were halted.
I flew out of DWC in 2022 as the World Cup shuttle flights to Doha operated from there. It felt like a budget airline's airport, both inside and out . They will need to do a lot of work to get this up to world class standards.
When DWC opened in 2010, it was designed so that an expansion was possible so the airport could eventually become Emirates new home. However, at the time, there wasn't a need to create such a large airport so far in advance, so they created temporary passenger terminals for the low cost airlines that wanted to fly into DWC for the time being. When this new phase expansion of the airport kicks off, the current passenger...
When DWC opened in 2010, it was designed so that an expansion was possible so the airport could eventually become Emirates new home. However, at the time, there wasn't a need to create such a large airport so far in advance, so they created temporary passenger terminals for the low cost airlines that wanted to fly into DWC for the time being. When this new phase expansion of the airport kicks off, the current passenger terminals will likely be demolished.
The current runways and cargo facilities are likely the only things that won't be changed (but they will likely be expanded).
I am fascinated to see how its pax projections will be realized once Air India gets its act together and EK no longer has this catchment area to work with.
People with money and points, and penchants for luxury will always fly with EK instead of AI. Period.
Well if that's the rationale then EK should be very worried b/c the airline strategy of providing luxury, higher-quality service vs price has failed basically everywhere in the world unless there is government support.
Still not as big as Atlanta #Delta4Lyfe
Atlanta does just over 100 million passengers per year. DXB does about 85 million. While we don't know how much of DWC's 260 million capacity will be used, it still is an incredible number.
ATL's pretty impressive, ngl.
7 concourses and you can move from one end of T to the end of F within ~10-15 minutes.
I wonder if flights from Abu Dhabi to Dubai will continue after the move.
There are currently no domestic flights between DXB and AUH
It's 80 miles.
What do you mean biggest?
Click bait?
The plan is for Dubai Al Maktoum Airport to become the largest in the world.
Size wise, the airport will be 70 square kilometers.
That's still about half the size of DEN.
Biggest in terms of annual passenger capacity -- 260 million. This is an eye popping number. To me, it was clear that this was the thrust of Ben's article.
By passenger flow. 260 million (if they ever get close) would be around twice the current biggest
Riyadh is also going to build a 200M airport.
PKX will be 200M
IST will be 150M
DEL will be 100M
DOH will be 100M
AUH will be 80M
I guess soon there will need to be 2 suckers born every minute to fill all these hub capacities.
I can't imagine how far I need to transit during transit. Minimum of 120 minutes?
Maybe EK will include helo transfers between gates for F passengers on a 1 hour tight connection.
Hello Ben,
You wrote:
‘kicking off a 128 million AED (~35 billion USD) project’
The conversion should be about 35 million USD and not 35 billion USD. I am sure that the USD currency is valued higher than the AED currency. 1 USD=3.6 AED.
I'm sure the "million" that should have been "billion" was the one before "AED".
There's no way this project is $35 million USD.
Yes, the DWC project is estimated to cost 128 Billion AED right now. The 35 Billion USD figure was correct.
Ah okay. Thanks. So, Ben meant to write 128 billion AED and not 128 million AED.
Given that HH showed his face during the reveal of the plans there might be a chance that this is credible this time. Probably also necessary given the new Abu Dhabi terminal in the spirit of regional frenemies.
Not sure how this is gonna play out. Emirates has been doing well, but I wouldn't bank on future success like that. Does it really need a new airport?
I personally feel that Emirates is reaching a saturation point, it's already serving so many markets, at some point "growing" will not be profitable. Launching new routes or increasing frequencies without the demand does not work.
Not to mention the 777x delays that will certainly impede...
Not sure how this is gonna play out. Emirates has been doing well, but I wouldn't bank on future success like that. Does it really need a new airport?
I personally feel that Emirates is reaching a saturation point, it's already serving so many markets, at some point "growing" will not be profitable. Launching new routes or increasing frequencies without the demand does not work.
Not to mention the 777x delays that will certainly impede growth for the next few years as well.
Emirates needs to launch service to ATL.
Emirates is the number one connector of many of the world’s fastest growing countries (India, SE Asia, most of Africa), which is where most of the global growth is going to come from over the next few decades. In addition, Dubai itself is fast becoming the NYC / London / Tokyo peer in the Middle East. DXB is already full and if the 777X has still not been delivered to the launch customer in a...
Emirates is the number one connector of many of the world’s fastest growing countries (India, SE Asia, most of Africa), which is where most of the global growth is going to come from over the next few decades. In addition, Dubai itself is fast becoming the NYC / London / Tokyo peer in the Middle East. DXB is already full and if the 777X has still not been delivered to the launch customer in a decade then it’s not just Emirates that’s in trouble! Debatable if an airport of this scale is needed but a new airport almost certainly will be.
Agreed but as many of these markets are developing they are increasingly investing in their aviation capabilities that can negate the need for transit via Dubai (and other locations in the Middle East).
This won't happen overnight, but we're seeing more direct flights from the US and Europe to SE-Asia - United's SFO - Manila, Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh - SFO, etc. In India, Delhi airport is undergoing an expansion and a new second...
Agreed but as many of these markets are developing they are increasingly investing in their aviation capabilities that can negate the need for transit via Dubai (and other locations in the Middle East).
This won't happen overnight, but we're seeing more direct flights from the US and Europe to SE-Asia - United's SFO - Manila, Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh - SFO, etc. In India, Delhi airport is undergoing an expansion and a new second airport will open next year - same story for Mumbai and the Indian airlines have massive orders of incoming planes with the public goal of reducing South Asian travel flow via the Middle East. It'll be interesting to watch.
We found few more candidates to replace Tim Clark.
Lol @Eskimo!
Also @Jacob ATL is crowded as a market with Turkish, Qatar, and Eithiopean all in the market. Not viable
Before you go to your son’s high school graduation, you’ll get up a quick post about how these plans have been delayed again until 2045