The United Arab Emirates is set to build what will be the world’s largest airport, sinking a projected $35 billion into the project.
Dubai’s United Al Maktoum International Airport will have 400 terminal gates, five runways, the capacity to handle up to 260 million passengers a year, and will be five times the size of the existing Dubai International Airport (DXB).
The announcement was made in a post on X by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who also revealed all DXB operations would transfer across to Al Maktoum “in the coming years”.
He added that UAE plans to build an entire city around the airport in Dubai South and that “demand for housing for a million people will follow”.
“It will host the world’s leading companies in the logistics and air transport sectors,” Sheikh Mohammed continued. “We are building a new project for future generations, ensuring continuous and stable development for our children and their children in turn. Dubai will be the world’s airport, its port, its urban hub, and its new global centre.”
The airport will be the new home of flagship carrier Emirates and its sister low-cost airline Flydubai, Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said.
The move will cement Dubai’s position as one of the world’s leading aviation hubs, and will bolster the standing of the ‘Dubai Logistics Corridor, which is an initiative by the Dubai government to establish the city as a global multimodal sea-air-land logistics hub. This development is happening in tandem with a huge level of residential developments in the UAE.
It encompasses key logistics facilities including DIA, Jebel Ali Port, and a network of highways and railways.
The corridor is designed to attract more logistics companies, boost trade volumes, and solidify Dubai’s position as a major logistics and supply chain hub, serving regional and global markets.
Jebel Ali Port, operated by DP World, is one of the largest and busiest ports in the Middle East and with the new Al Maktoum International Airport – together with a growing network of road and rail connections – will see Dubai become a world-class global logistics hub.
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