Dubai to proceed with $35 billion expansion plan at Al Maktoum Airport

Dubai is proceeding with building a new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport in anticipation of a spike in visitors, after halting the project for years.

The emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved the designs for the terminal on Sunday, expected to cost 128 billion dirhams ($34.8 billion), according to the Dubai government’s statement.

The airport, which hosts the biennial Dubai Air Show, has emerged as a hub for cargo planes and private jets.

Dubai Airports plans to encourage more airlines to move their operations to the new terminal in the next few years, Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of the airport operator, told Bloomberg earlier this year.

Dubai World Central (DWC), as the airport is also called, “will be five times the size of the current Dubai International Airport, and all operations at Dubai International Airport will be transferred to it in the coming years,” Dubai Media Office said in a post on X.

Dubai, one of the world’s busiest long-haul hubs, has seen traffic surge past pre-pandemic levels as visitor numbers to the city swell and long-haul connecting traffic rebounds. The city’s flag carrier, Emirates, posted record half-year profit through September 2023, and has been pushing for an expansion of DWC to accommodate its growth plans and expanding fleet.

Work on Dubai’s Al Maktoum airport was put on hold in 2019. The airport is designed to be one of the world’s biggest with an annual capacity of more than 260 million passengers, according to its operator.