Dubai To Spend $35B On Massive Terminal For Dubai World Central Airport

Dubai has approved plans for building an AED128 billion ($35 billion) passenger terminal at Dubai World Central Airport (DWC), to which all operations currently at Dubai International Airport (DXB) will be moved.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, said in an April 28 statement that he had “approved the designs for the new [DWC] passenger terminal,” including the AED128 billion cost. 

DXB was the second-busiest passenger airport in the world in 2023, according to Airports Council International World, handling 87 million passengers, up 31.7% over 2022. Al Maktoum said DWC will ultimately have the capacity to handle as many as 260 million passengers annually.

Plans for DWC show the future airport with 400 aircraft gates and five parallel runways.

DWC now has one main runway. It opened in 2010 for cargo flights, and passenger service started in 2013. The existing terminal has capacity for around 26 million passengers annually.

Emirates Airline, which has its global hub based at DXB, has pushed for the transition to a much larger DWC as Dubai’s main airport “as soon as possible.”

No specific timeline has been given, but Al Maktoum said in his statement that “all operations at Dubai International Airport will be transferred to [DWC] in the coming years.” The statement indicated the first phase of the project, which will allow DWC to handle 150 million passengers annually, will take fewer than 10 years.

DWC’s master plan calls for the airport to ultimately span 70 km² (27 mi.²). It is also slated to have capacity for 12 million metric tons of cargo annually.

Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said the “substantial investment of AED128 billion marks the start of a huge investment of resources by our many stakeholders in designing and building a state-of-the-art airport that will provide a quick, convenient, and high-quality 21^st-century experience for our customers … DXB will continue to serve as the primary hub, meeting the needs of 100 million plus [passengers] over the next few years as [construction at] DWC takes shape.”