Dubai International Airport (DXB) will one day close and transform into a new real estate masterplan, said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths during his participation at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2025 this week. When asked about the airport’s future, Griffiths noted that DXB will no longer be needed once Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) is fully operational.
“The current thinking is when DXB gets to a point where we’ve got enough capacity at DWC to make the complete transition, we will move every single service to DWC,” he responded. “There is little sense in operating two major hubs with such close proximity to one another,” he added.
Griffiths also suggested that DXB may be too old to maintain by the time DWC is fully developed and operational. “By then, every single asset at DXB will be close to the end of its useful operating role, so the economics of keeping DXB open will not be possible unless we invest a huge amount of money,” he added.
DXB to be redeveloped
All services at DXB will transition to DWC, which is expected to fully absorb operations within the next 10 years, the operator reported. Griffiths compared DXB’s future to Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport, which underwent a transformation into real estate and commercial development districts.
“As we get towards DWC’s full scale of operations, the focus will shift there, DXB will close, and we’ll redevelop the area. It will spread the city out,” he added.
Griffiths also noted that a number of real estate developers will be excited to get their hands on the airport for redevelopment, adding that “As far as a timeline for DXB, we’re talking quite a long time in the future.”
Griffiths added that DWC’s opening would “spread the city out” and may ease traffic challenges that Dubai currently faces.
Read: Saudi Arabia’s aviation market officially opens to international charter flight operators
$35 billion investment to make DWC the largest in the world
In April last year, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, approved designs for the new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport, which will be the largest in the world when fully operational.
Set to be built at a cost of $35 billion, the new terminal will ultimately enable the airport to handle a passenger capacity of 260 million annually, the largest capacity globally. It will be five times the size of the current Dubai International Airport, and all operations at Dubai International Airport will be transferred to it in the coming years. The airport will also accommodate 400 aircraft gates and feature five parallel runways.
Upon full development, the hub will emerge as the world’s largest airport, covering an expansive area of 70 square kilometres. The airport will be able to handle 12 million tons of cargo per annum.
