A big building project has officially started in Dubai. Work has started on the first part of a new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport (Dubai World Central, DWC).
This was announced by Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman of Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP). DAEP is in charge of implementing and coordinating the project.
He says that a second runway will be built and work will begin on the terminal building. This will cost more than 1 billion dirhams (about 270 million dollars).
This project will help the economy to grow and will help to create new types of businesses in Dubai. A whole group of buildings will be built around the new hub to house up to 1 million people. The airport will create tens of thousands of jobs in areas such as construction, aviation, logistics, tourism and real estate, Al Zaffin said.
The new terminal is being built in the Dubai South area. There is already a noticeable increase in demand for hotels, housing and commercial space, which confirms the importance of the project for the southern part of the emirate.
In 2025, the next phase of the project will start. At this point, companies will be asked to apply for building underground infrastructure, transformer substations and central cooling systems. There is a competition to supply an automated people mover (APM) system for transporting passengers and a baggage handling system (BHS).
The project is scheduled to be completed in 2032. The new 70 km2 airport will have 400 boarding gates, five parallel runways and new aviation technologies. It will be able to handle up to 150 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo every year.
Dubai's Al Maktoum airport is being built to be the 'airport of the future'. It will eventually replace Dubai International Airport (DXB) as the main airport for the region. Its development will be one of the most important parts of the 'Dubai Economic Growth Strategy - D33,' which focuses on sustainability, innovation, and being competitive around the world.