Al Maktoum International Airport

Construction

The 4,500 m × 60 m (14,800 ft × 200 ft) runway was completed in 2007 after 600 days of construction with tests planned over the following six to eight months in order to fulfill its CAT III-C requirements.^[10][11] Construction of the airport's cargo terminal, the Al Maktoum Airport Cargo Gateway, which cost around US$75 million, was 50% complete by the end of 2008.^[12]

During the first phase of the project, the airport was planned to handle around 200,000 t (200,000 long tons; 220,000 short tons) of cargo per year, with the possibility of increasing to 800,000 t (790,000 long tons; 880,000 short tons).^[12] The passenger terminal at this phase was designed to have a capacity of 5 million passengers per year.^[13] It was planned to be the largest airport in the world in terms of freight handled, moving up to 12 million tonnes (12,000,000 long tons; 13,000,000 short tons) per year in 2013.^{[needs update][12]}

The project was originally expected to be fully operational by 2017, although the 2007–2008 financial crisis subsequently postponed the completion of the complex to 2027. Previous working names for the airport complex have included "Jebel Ali International Airport", "Jebel Ali Airport City", and "Dubai World Central International Airport". The airport was eventually named the Al Maktoum International Airport after the House of Maktoum which rules the Emirate of Dubai.^[14] The total cost of the airport has been estimated by the Dubai government to be $82 billion.^[15]

Operations

Al Maktoum International Airport opened on 24 June 2010 with one runway and only cargo flights.^[1] The first flight into the airport occurred on 20 June 2010, when an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F landed after a flight from Hong Kong. The flight served as a test for various functions such as air traffic control, movement of aircraft on the ground, and security. According to Emirates, the flight was an "unmitigated success".^[16]

On 24 February 2011, the airport was certified to handle passenger aircraft with up to 60 passengers.^[17] The first passenger aircraft touched down on 28 February 2011, an Airbus A319CJ.^[18] The airport officially opened for passenger flights on 26 October 2013 with Flynas and Wizz Air as the two carriers to operate from the airport.^[19]

In the first quarter of 2014, 102,000 passengers went through the airport.^[20] At the time of its opening, three cargo service airlines served Al Maktoum International Airport, including RUS Aviation, Skyline Air and Aerospace Consortium. Fifteen additional airlines then signed a contract to operate flights to the airport.^[21]

Passenger numbers in the first half of 2016 totaled 410,278, up from 209,989 in the first half of 2015.^[22] Low usage of the facility led to it being described as a white elephant.^[23]

Expansion plans

On 28 April 2024, Emirates announced that the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, had approved a major expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport with the construction of a new 128 billion AED ($34.85 billion USD) passenger terminal.^[24] When complete, the airport is expected to be the largest in the world at roughly five times the size of the existing Dubai International Airport with capacity for up to 260 million passengers.^[24] Plans call for the airport to include five parallel runways and 400 aircraft gates.^[8] All Emirates and Flydubai operations are expected to be transferred to the new airport by 2030.^[8]

Passenger

The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter services to and from Al Maktoum International:^[6]

Cargo