By 2034, Emirates Airline and Group chairman and CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum announced that the airline would move all at once to Al Maktoum International Airport.
“We will relocate to Al Maktoum Airport by 2034 as part of the D33 programme. The relocation (from Dubai International to Al Maktoum Airport) will be in one go. You will wake up one day and the terminal is open and tested and you will see flights from Al Maktoum Airport,” Sheikh Ahmed said during a media briefing on Tuesday.
He clarified that during this transitional period, there will be “no split of operations,” but they will operate “from one airport.”
According to him, a new airport is urgently needed to accommodate the expansion of regional airlines and the aviation industry.
“I am more confident than a few years back (about the new airport’s success). I’ve seen it all and experienced it. Dubai always exceeded the targets in every sector. We are confident that without this airport, Dubai will be going backwards (as Emirates and Dubai are growing). All the aircraft that will come into the fleet, we need gates and parking for them and with the existing facility, it will be a challenge,” he said.
The government of Dubai declared last week that over the next few years, all operations currently conducted at Dubai International (DXB) will be moved to Al Maktoum International (DWC). In ten years, DXB’s operations will be “fully absorbed” by a new Dh128 billion passenger terminal at Dubai World Central, which will increase passenger capacity to 260 million annually.
