Dubai has approved plans to develop an AED128 billion ($35 billion) passenger terminal at Dubai World Central Airport (DWC), where all operations currently conducted at Dubai International Airport (DXB) will be relocated.
In a statement released on April 28, Dubai's ruler, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, declared that he had "approved the designs for the new [DWC] passenger terminal," including the AED 128 billion price tag.
According to Airports Council International World, DXB was the world's second busiest passenger airport in 2023, with 87 million passengers, a 31.7% increase over 2022. According to Al Maktoum, DWC would eventually be able to accommodate up to 260 million passengers a year.
Future of Aviation in Dubai
Plans for DWC envisage a future airport with 400 airplane gates and five parallel runways. Today, DWC has a single main runway. It first opened for cargo flights in 2010, and passenger service followed in 2013. The current terminal can handle about 26 million passengers a year.
Emirates Airlines, which uses DXB as its worldwide hub, has advocated for the move of Dubai's primary airport to the considerably larger DWC "as soon as possible."
Although no precise date has been provided, Al Maktoum stated in his announcement that "all operations at Dubai International Airport will be transferred to [DWC] in the coming years." According to the announcement, the project's first phase, which will enable DWC to accommodate 150 million people a year, will take less than 10 years.
According to DWC's master plan, the airport will eventually cover 70 square kilometers (27 square miles). Additionally, it is planned to be able to handle 12 million metric tonnes of cargo each year.
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths stated that the AED128 billion investment marks the beginning of a significant investment by stakeholders in designing and building a modern airport that will provide customers with a fast, convenient, and high-quality experience. DXB will continue to function as the principal hub, fulfilling the needs of over 100 million [passengers] in the coming years while [building at] DWC progresses."
(Inputs by agencies)
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