Dubai International Airport plans new project worth $35 billion

DUBAI, The UAE: Over the weekend, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, said Dubai International Airport will move to a larger airfield in the emirate's southern desert "within the next 10 years," under a project worth nearly US$35 billion.

Sheikh Mohammed's announcement is part of the recovery efforts of local long-haul carrier Emirates after the COVID-19 pandemic grounded international travel.

For many years, plans to move the operations of the airport, the world's busiest international travel hub known as DXB, to Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central have been discussed.

The move had also been delayed by the repercussions of the 2009 economic crisis in Dubai.

In an online statement, Sheikh Mohammed said, "We are building a new project for future generations, ensuring continuous and stable development for our children and their children in turn."

The announcement said the new airport will feature five parallel runways and 400 aircraft gates, compared with the current one, which has just two runways.

In 2023, the number of passengers flying through DXB was 86.9 million, compared with 86.3 million in 2018, 89.1 million passengers in 2018, its busiest-ever year before the COVID-19 pandemic, and 66 million passengers in 2022.

The announcement by Sheikh Mohammed noted Dubai's plans to expand further south.

"As we build an entire city around the airport in Dubai South, demand for housing for a million people will follow. It will host the world's leading companies in the logistics and air transport sectors," he said.