DWC second runway set for 2027, flydubai could start moving aircraft from DXB

Dubai: Dubai World Central’s second runway is expected to open by the end of 2027, marking the next major step in the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport.

Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said construction remains on schedule, with the first phase of the expanded airport expected to provide capacity for 150 million passengers in the early 2030s.

“The opening of the second runway will be the next major milestone for DWC,” Griffiths said during a media briefing on Thursday.

The completed airport is planned to have five runways and capacity for up to 260 million passengers a year.

Griffiths said only two runways would initially be needed for the first 150 million-passenger phase. The third and fourth would be added as terminal capacity grows, while the fifth would serve as a standby runway when one of the others is out of service.

First 150 million capacity planned for early 2030s

Griffiths said significant earthworks and piling activity were already taking place across the site.

The initial development is expected to provide capacity for 150 million passengers, with further sections added as demand grows.

The wider plan includes up to eight passenger processing nodes, each providing capacity for around 31 million to 32 million passengers.

Griffiths said those nodes can be added ahead of demand, giving DWC enough room to expand through the second half of the century.

Dubai World Central will ultimately provide the additional capacity needed once Dubai International reaches its operating limit.

flydubai could begin moving aircraft next year

The first airline move from DXB to DWC is not confirmed. However, Griffiths said flydubai would probably be the first airline to shift part of its operation, with an initial move potentially involving five or six aircraft next year.

“The first mover actually will probably be flydubai,” Griffiths said. “That will move part of their operation to the new airport over the next few years, probably starting next year.”

He said the broader transition would happen in stages over several months, with Emirates and flydubai expected to use DWC capacity as DXB fills up.

Other airlines would move later, while the full transfer of DXB operations is planned once the first 150 million-passenger phase at DWC becomes available.

Griffiths compared the scale of the eventual move with Hong Kong’s airport transfer in the late 1990s, when an airport handling about 20 million passengers shifted operations to a new site in 24 hours.

Dubai’s transition is expected to take longer because of the much larger passenger volumes involved.

Queue-free airport remains the ambition

Griffiths also outlined how Dubai Airports wants the passenger journey at DWC to evolve, but these elements were presented as design ambitions and possibilities, rather than confirmed operating procedures.

One goal is to reduce the role of conventional check-in desks by completing more of the process when a passenger buys a ticket.

Travellers could eventually arrive, drop their bags and continue through the terminal with fewer document checks.

“What I want to do is I want to make you think you’re not at an airport,” Griffiths said.

Facial recognition is already being used to reduce passport checks, while Griffiths said future security systems could cut the need to remove laptops or liquids.

Dubai Airports is also looking at alternatives to paper baggage tags, including the possibility of giving bags a permanent form of identification.

Rail stations could take on airport functions

Another possibility under discussion is completing some airport procedures at rail stations before passengers reach DWC.

Griffiths said Dubai Airports is talking to the Roads and Transport Authority and other authorities about whether rail connections could include airport-processing functions.

That could allow passengers to leave the train and head directly to a lounge, shop, restaurant or departure area.

“The idea is it will be more like an arrival at a lobby of a hotel than it will be at an airport,” Griffiths said.

Technology will need room to change

Griffiths said the physical airport is being designed with enough flexibility to accommodate technologies that may emerge over the next 10 to 20 years.

Dubai Airports is designing the buildings and technology together, while allowing for the possibility that the way the infrastructure is used could change substantially by the time later phases open.

The confirmed development programme centres on the second runway, the first 150 million-passenger phase in the early 2030s and the eventual five-runway, 260 million-passenger airport.

The queue-free journey, rail-based processing and new baggage systems remain part of the future operating vision being explored for DWC.