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Dubai International Airport (DXB) will eventually be decommissioned once Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) is fully operational, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) this week.
“The current thinking is when DXB gets to a point where we’ve got enough capacity at DWC to make the complete transition, we will move every single service to DWC.”
“There is little sense in operating two major hubs with such close proximity to one another,” he said, as reported by Skift.
DXB, which opened in 1960, has grown to become one of the world’s busiest airports, handling more than 92 million passengers in 2023.
Griffiths indicated that DXB may be too outdated to operate by the time DWC is fully developed.
“The other point is that DXB by then, every single asset at DXB will be close to the end of its useful operating role, so the economics of keeping DXB open will not be possible unless we invest a huge amount of money,” he added.
DWC to absorb DXB operations within a decade
The operators of both airports have confirmed that all services at DXB will transition to DWC, which is expected to fully absorb operations within the next 10 years.
Griffiths reiterated that the shift would allow the current DXB site to be redeveloped.
“We’re right up against Sharjah in the north, so it will spread the city out and actually make it perhaps a little easier than the traffic problems that we’ve got today,” he said.
In April 2024, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum — Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai — approved the designs for a new Dhs128bn passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport.
Al Maktoum International Airport will enjoy the world’s largest capacity, reaching up to 260 million passengers.
It will be five times the size of the current Dubai International Airport, and all operations at Dubai International Airport will be transferred to it in the coming years, said Sheikh Mohammed.
“The airport will accommodate 400 aircraft gates and feature five parallel runways. New aviation technologies will be employed for the first time in the aviation sector,” he added.
The completed airport will cover a vast 70-square-kilometre site.
Underground train to ease passenger movement
According to Khaleej Times, Griffiths also revealed plans for an extensive underground train system at DWC to streamline passenger movement and reduce walking distances.
“The underground system will be very comprehensive and pretty quick to reduce travel distance,” he said.
“It is such a large site that it would be about a 20-minute journey time and we have to make it fast, efficient and competitive in terms of circulation of transfer passengers to get to and from the airport.”
Griffiths said that the team at DXB had reviewed several designs and agreed that the train would need to be a seated service, with the journey expected to take between 15 and 20 minutes.
Read more: Sheikh Mohammed: Al Maktoum Airport will replace Dubai International in future
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