The development is anticipated to be the biggest airport project in the world and will be built in two phases. The airport will ultimately accommodate more than 200 million passengers a year.
Earlier, Sheikh Mohammed was briefed on a number of engineering designs for the Al Maktoum International Airport. He expressed his admiration about “the light box-the jewel design” given its conformity to the local environment. He ordered the endorsement and implementation of the design.
He said the project would effectively boost the aviation sector, especially in the areas of transport, cargo and investment, noting that it would further notch the UAE in general and Dubai in particular in the aviation industry map.
Sheikh Mohammed stressed that all the UAE ports would remain open to the world so as to view “Our authentic Islamic and Arabic culture and sense the country's tolerance as well as our achievements and local environment.”
The first phase of the project includes two satellite buildings with a collective capacity of 120 million passengers annually. It will accommodate 100 A380 aircraft at any one time and will take between six and eight years to complete. The entire development will cover an area of 56 sq km.
More than its size, the new airport’s uniqueness lies in a radically new approach to ensure that the latest technology will cut the time spent completing travel formalities and reduce walking distances, enabling passengers to make fast and efficient connections between hundreds of destinations worldwide.
The decision follows months of planning by the key stakeholders in the aviation sector, including Dubai Airports, Dubai Airports Engineering Projects, Emirates airline and DNATA, to ensure that a design that facilitates the future growth of Dubai’s aviation industry is selected.
With passenger traffic expected to reach almost 100 million at Dubai International by the end of 2020, the further development of DWC will be a vital step towards providing the necessary facilities to accommodate passenger and cargo growth in the decades ahead and pave the way for Emirates to relocate their intercontinental hub operations to DWC by the mid-2020s.
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, thanked Sheikh Mohammed for his visionary support of the project, and described the new airport as a vital investment in the future of Dubai. He confirmed that the aviation sector was projected to remain a cornerstone of Dubai’s economy, and was expected to support more than 322,000 jobs and contribute 28% of Dubai’s GDP by 2020.
