Dubai: Dubai’s future mega-hub airport, Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central, will be able to handle 26 million passengers a year by 2018, Dubai Airports Chief Executive, Paul Griffiths, said on Tuesday.
The airport is being expanded from its current capacity of between 5 and 7 million passengers a year to cater to increasing demand from travellers flying through the emirate, Griffiths announced at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM).
Last year, Dubai International, the emirate’s main airport, overtook London Heathrow as the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic by handling 70.4 million passengers.
That number is projected to grow to 78 million this year, according to operator and manager Dubai Airports. The total number of passengers passing through the emirate is expected to rise to 126 million a year by 2020, more than the 100 million passenger capacity Dubai International will have by then.
Griffiths said construction to expand capacity at DWC to 26 million passengers will start later this year. He also said Tuesday’s announcement was a “prelude” to the $32 billion (Dh117.5 billion) expansion announced last September that will lift DWC capacity to 120 million passengers a year. DWC is projected to one day be capable of handling in excess of 200 million passengers a year.
Griffith said Dubai Airports is in the final stages of drafting the design of Tuesday’s announced expansion. The expansion of DWC by about 20 million passengers year will see 24 boarding gates, 7 baggages reclaim carousels and 104 check-on desks at the airport once construction is complete.
Griffiths also said the first phase of the $32 billion expansion is likely to be complete by 2025, which is when DWC would be able to handle the migration of Emirates.
Tim Clark, Emirates airline president, has previously said he would expect to airline would have to move to the airport by 2023 because of congestion at Dubai International.
Griffiths also said Dubai plans on keeping the two airports once DWC is completed. Drawing comparisons with Tokyo’s two airports, he said DWC would handle intercontinental flights and Dubai International would likely handle regional origin and destination traffic.
