Groundwork to begin soon on Dubai’s $35bn airport

HHShkMohd/X

Work will begin shortly on the world’s largest passenger terminal in Dubai.

Major groundwork at Al Maktoum International will start this month, Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said.

The first phase of the AED128 billion ($34.85 billion) project, slated to be completed within a decade, will be able to accommodate 150 million passengers annually, the UAE state-run Wam news agency reported in April.

---

---

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation and Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, said in April that the new airport will prepare the ground for the next 40 years of anticipated growth in Dubai’s aviation sector. 

When completed, Al Maktoum International Airport will be five times the size of Dubai International Airport (DXB) and capable of handling 260 million passengers annually.

• Passenger traffic at UAE airports increases 15%
• Airport chiefs size up ways to meet GCC airspace demand
• Oman plans six new airports in tourism push

Midas Aviation partner John Grant said the Al Maktoum International expansion is “big, bold and absolutely Dubai in its intent”. It is also achievable, he wrote in a column for AGBI.

DXB, which the new airport will replace, is already outperforming its global peers.

In April, Airports Council International, an association of world airports, said DXB retained its crown as the world’s busiest international airport, beating London and Amsterdam.