DXB will continue to serve as the primary hub over the next few years as the DWC expansion takes shape

In ten years, the Dh128 billion terminal being constructed at Al Maktoum International (DWC) airport would be able to handle 260 million passengers annually, totally absorbing the operations of Dubai International (DXB). When it is fully operational, the airport to the south of Dubai will surpass all other airports in the world in size. It will take the place of DXB, which is expected to close after its operations are entirely transferred.

“Because of the proximity of the airport to the city, there will be no business case to keep the two running,” Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, told Khaleej Times.

DXB, which is situated in Al Garhoud, first welcomed visitors in September 1960. Back then, it had a modest terminal building and a runway that was compacted with sand. The airport received 500 million passengers in 51 years, from September 30, 1960, to December 31, 2011, according to information on its website; nevertheless, in just seven years, it handled 500 million more.

Many of the DXB assets will be "quite old" by the time operations are transferred to DWC in ten years, according to Griffiths.

“And rather than have an asset replacement programme, which obviously will be expensive, it would make sense for DXB to close at that point,” he said. “What we will do is take the opportunity to have a fresh start with a new site that's five times larger than DXB, and that will be a major undertaking, obviously.”

As the DWC expansion takes shape, DXB will continue to function as the "primary hub," serving the needs of over 100 million travelers. For the tenth year in a row, the hub was named the best airport in the world for foreign passenger numbers in 2023. By 2024, it is predicted that the hub would have handled over 88.8 million passengers.

The transition from DXB to DWC will begin shortly, the airport operator’s chief executive said. “We don't think we'll be able to move more than about 30 million passengers to the new airport before the opening of the second phase. But if you think about it, 30 million at DWC and, say, 120 million at DXB, that gives us 150 million — which is 60 million more passengers than we're accommodating today. So, we've still got headroom for growth. We just prefer that growth to be in the same place with a state-of-the-art facility.”

Getting to DWC

Griffiths assuaged customers' fears that traveling to DWC would take longer than traveling to DXB, which is located near the city center.

“I think this notion that DXB is in the middle of the city and DWC is a long way away will dissipate over time because the city's development is going to continue apace in the south towards where the new airport is,” he said. “Actually, the city is coming to the airport rather than the airport moving out of the city.”

He was speaking of the proposal to develop a whole metropolis in Dubai South around the airport.

A "automated people mover system" for passengers and a "integrated landside transport hub" for city air, metro, and highways were among the features Dubai had previously disclosed about DWC.

“An airport's main duty is … to provide a very efficient and seamless transition between surface-based transport in all its forms and aerial transport in all its forms. We will be working very, very hard indeed to engineer the best systems and solutions into that airport configuration as we possibly can, including new and innovative ways of actually leaving your home and office and ending up on the plane,” said Griffiths.