Dubai's Ambitious Plan for the World's Largest Airport

A Wizz Air A320 arriving from Budapest made headlines in October 2013 by becoming the first commercial passenger flight ever to touch down at Al Maktoum International Airport, also known as Dubai World Central (DWC).

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This state-of-the-art airport, located 20 miles southwest of downtown Dubai, was developed with the ambitious goal of becoming the world's largest and busiest in the near future. The vision remains for a cutting-edge mega-hub that will ensure Dubai's position as a key player in the global economy without facing capacity constraints.

Dubai Airports, the authority overseeing both Dubai International (DXB) and the new airport, has assured that once completed, Al Maktoum International will have the capacity to accommodate over 160 million passengers annually, along with handling 12 million tonnes of freight.

To provide some context, this is almost 63 million more travelers than the number handled by the world's current busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, in 2022, and nearly 100 million more than Dubai International. It's worth noting that DXB is already the world's busiest airport outside of the US and serves as Dubai's primary international gateway.

However, even a decade and a pandemic after its first passenger flight, and a full 13 years since its commencement of cargo operations, Dubai's newest airport remains a project that is still evolving and developing.

DWC serves as a hub for aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services in the aviation industry. It is also home to various air cargo operators, such as Emirates Cargo, the freight division of the UAE's national carrier, and accommodates executive jets and charter flights.

Although DWC offers a range of aviation services, scheduled passenger flights are primarily operated by a few low-cost carriers. These airlines mainly offer services to destinations in Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia.

So what’s been happening with those ambitious plans? And when might we see a timeline or new designs?

‘Airport of the future’

Al Maktoum International currently only handles a limited number of commercial passenger flights.

Al Maktoum International currently only handles a limited number of commercial passenger flights.

The Dubai Air Show, which took place in 2023 at a specially constructed venue at Al Maktoum International Airport, provided valuable clues about the future of DWC and offered a glimpse into Dubai Airports' overarching strategy.

"We have prioritized expansion and investments at DXB to meet our customers’ requirements and plans,” says Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports CEO in an interview with CNN. He mentions that this focus will persist until all available capacity is utilized.

Griffiths emphasizes the strategy to optimize the existing capacity by utilizing "innovative technology and refurbishments to reimagine the use of space." This initiative aims to accommodate an additional 20 million passengers, increasing DXB’s current annual capacity of 100 million passengers.

"This expansion is not only intended to accommodate our immediate growth needs but also to allow for strategic planning for the phased expansion of DWC. Passenger forecasts indicate 86.8 million passengers for 2023, with projections increasing to 88.2 million in 2024 and 93.8 million in 2025," he mentions.

While Griffiths has refrained from providing a specific timeline, in November 2023, he informed the AFP news agency that as capacity reaches its limit, "a new airport will be necessary... at some point in the 2030s."

Griffiths expressed his excitement for DWC in an interview with CNN earlier this year, stating that the Phase 2 development offers a valuable opportunity to align with Dubai's overall objectives and expansion strategies.

During the air show, Griffiths mentioned that plans are underway for the new mega-airport, although the detailed designs showcased at the event, featuring six parallel runways and three large terminals, are already a few years old.

Changing the business model

New artist renderings haven't been released in a decade, but Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths says the team will soon be working on ambitious new designs.

New artist renderings haven't been released in a decade, but Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths says the team will soon be working on ambitious new designs.

Dubai Airports

Griffiths has hinted to Business Traveller magazine about an intriguing modular approach to gradually expand DWC on a timeline that might run into the 2050s. “We are not planning an airport that has terminals,” he said. “We’re going to completely change the business model for airports, make them actually far more intimate, and get rid of all the legacy processes that we’ve had to subject our customers to, for far too long.”

The airport will be the centerpiece of a much larger scheme, called Dubai South, that envisages the creation of a whole new city in a 145-square-kilometer stretch of desert just south of Dubai.

This upcoming district, currently in the early stages of development, is set to consist of eight distinct neighborhoods dedicated to different industries or activities, blending residential and commercial zones.

At the center of it all will be an integrated "aerotropolis" anchored by the airport. The Mohammed bin Rashid (MBR) Aerospace Hub, home to Dubai's rapidly expanding aviation and aerospace sector, will be a key player in bringing this vision to life, highlighted by the recent announcement of the $950 million Emirates engineering center.

The real turning point, however, will come the day local giant Emirates and its smaller partner, flyDubai, relocate to the new airport from their current home at Dubai International. This move has long been on the cards, but it has no known timeframe yet.

According to Nadine Itani, program leader for air transport management at the University of Surrey in England, Emirates’ shift to DWC is more than a relocation.

The aviation expert explains that the strategic realignment in Dubai is a response to the evolving dynamics of the global air travel and trade market. This move towards Dubai World Central (DWC) as a future mega-hub is part of a larger trend in the region. There is a competition among countries to invest in new, large-scale airport facilities to stay competitive in the industry.

Not only are the region's flag carriers looking to secure their share of global travel flows and establish their capital cities as international trade centers, but they are also increasingly focused on becoming tourist destinations in their own right. The development of modern airports will play a crucial role in supporting these efforts.

Itani notes a significant shift in the incoming traffic mix into Dubai, with a decrease in connecting passengers and an increase in terminating passengers. This change is accompanied by the expected rise in transport and logistics activity, attributed to Dubai's involvement in planned trade agreements such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor.

Hamad International Airport in nearby Qatar, a direct competitor of Dubai in the long-haul connectivity market, was inaugurated as recently as 2014 and is now preparing to expand its capacity to accommodate more than 60 million annual passengers.

This contributes to the ongoing airport expansion projects in the region. In 2018, a brand new airport worth $1.8 billion was opened in Muscat, Oman. In 2021, Bahrain unveiled a new terminal costing $1.1 billion. Most recently, in November 2023, Abu Dhabi inaugurated Terminal A, a massive 780,000-square-meter facility capable of accommodating up to 79 aircraft simultaneously.

On the other hand, at the northern end of the Gulf, Kuwait International Airport is in the process of constructing a new terminal designed by the renowned British architectural firm Foster+Partners. This new terminal will initially have the capacity to handle 25 million passengers per year, with the potential to double it to 50 million in the future.

Less than 20 miles from Dubai’s downtown, Sharjah International Airport, primarily home to low-cost carrier Air Arabia, is also increasing its capacity to 20 million passengers annually.

Saudi Arabia is also readying a massive airport expansion as part of its 2030 Vision, which has allocated $100 billion to prop up the kingdom’s air connectivity and turn it into one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

Riyadh Air, a new international airline, is not the only addition coming to the Saudi capital. A massive new airport is also in the works, set to replace the current one at the same location. This new six-runway airport in Riyadh will have the capacity to accommodate 185 million passengers annually, a significant increase from the number it served in 2022.

The competition to secure the top position in the global airport rankings has never been fiercer, with airports around the world vying for supremacy.

Editor's P/S:

The article provides an intriguing glimpse into the ambitious plans for Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in Dubai. While the airport has been operational for over a decade, it has yet to fully realize its potential as a major international hub. However, the recent Dubai Air Show has shed light on the future of DWC, hinting at a grand vision that could redefine the airport landscape in the region.

The article highlights the ongoing competition among Gulf countries to develop state-of-the-art airport facilities. Dubai faces stiff competition from neighbors such as Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, which are all investing heavily in their own airport expansion projects. This competitive environment drives innovation and pushes airports to adopt cutting-edge technologies and designs. It will be fascinating to witness how DWC evolves in the coming years and whether it can establish itself as the preeminent airport in the region, solidifying Dubai's position as a global aviation powerhouse.