Dubai’s $32bn plan to make Al Maktoum International the world’s biggest airport

The ruler of Dubai—Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum—has endorsed a US$32 billion dollar (£19.8billion) expansion plan for the city’s second airport that officials envisage will eventually become the world’s biggest, the Middle Eastern commercial hub’s airport operator said. The approval sets in motion a vast building project that aims to give the airport known as Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central the capacity to handle more than 200 million passengers per year. The first phase of the expansion alone aims to build enough runway and terminal space to handle 120 million passengers a year and 100 double-decker Airbus A380 jets at any given time. The world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, handled 94.4 million people last year.

We have now launched the first phase, which is for a 120-million-passenger capacity required to enable the Emirates’ hub to relocate.

Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports chief

Once complete in six to eight years, the new Dubai airport will boast five parallel runways spaced far enough apart so they can all be used at the same time and spread over 56 square kilometres (22 square miles). Al Maktoum International Airport was launched before the global financial crisis hit Dubai in 2009, and opened only for cargo in 2010. Limited passenger operations began in October 2013 in a single terminal that is mainly used by smaller airlines and low-cost carriers. Dubai International Airport is the Middle East’s busiest airport and is home to Dubai-based Emirates, the region’s largest carrier. It was the world’s seventh busiest airport last year, handling 66.4 million passengers.

Business al-maktoum international