World’s Busiest International Airport to Close: What Will Happen to Dubai International Airport by 2035

Dubai International Airport DXB, which remained the world's largest international air hub for decades, is set to close in 2035. Find out why the UAE is moving all flights to the new Al Maktoum International Airport, what the world's largest airport will be and how it will change global air travel

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Dubai International Airport – a symbol of global aviation, transit flights and the rapid development of the United Arab Emirates – is preparing for historic changes. The UAE authorities have officially confirmed that the legendary Dubai International Airport (DXB), which has held the status of the busiest international airport in the world for many years, is planned to be completely closed by 2035, Express reports.

All flights, services and operations will gradually be transferred to a new giant air hub – Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), located in the Dubai World Central area. It is he who should become the largest airport on the planet and a key transport hub in the Middle East in the 21st century.

We will tell about key changes in logistics in the Middle East in this article.

Why is Dubai abandoning DXB?

For many tourists, DXB has become a real “air gateway” between Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The airport opened in 1960, and over six decades it has grown into one of the world’s most important transport hubs.

However, DXB’s main problem today is not popularity, but physical limitations. The airport is effectively sandwiched between densely populated residential areas and major highways in Dubai. This has made its further large-scale expansion almost impossible.

Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths explained that maintaining two huge air hubs next to each other is not economically feasible. In addition, according to him, by the time flights are fully transferred, a significant part of DXB’s infrastructure will have already exhausted its operational resource, and modernization will require enormous investments.

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What will the new Al Maktoum International Airport be like?

The new DWC airport is not just a replacement for DXB, but part of the UAE’s large-scale strategy to dominate global aviation and logistics.

Today, Al Maktoum International Airport is undergoing a grand modernization, the cost of which is estimated at approximately 35-38 billion dollars. After the completion of the project, the airport will be able to serve up to 260 million passengers each year, which will be an absolute record in world aviation. The design of the new airport in Dubai provides for:

- Five parallel runways;

- Up to 400 gates;

- Fully digital and automated services;

- New passenger flow control systems;

- Integration with high-speed transport;

- Large-scale logistics complexes around the airport.

Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects claims that the new DWC will become the “airport of the future”, where most processes will be automated, and the trips themselves will be as fast and comfortable as possible.

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When will the flight transfer begin?

The active phase of the transfer of operations from DXB to DWC is expected to begin around 2032. The full completion of the large-scale project could take until 2057.

After that, all flights of Emirates, flydubai and other international airlines will finally be operated through the new air hub.

For tourists, this will mean not only a change of arrival airport, but also a complete upgrade of Dubai's transport infrastructure.

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DWC to integrate with high-speed rail

One of the key elements of the new transport hub will be integration with the Etihad Rail network - the future high-speed railway of the UAE.

Thanks to this, the journey between Dubai and Abu Dhabi could be reduced to about 30 minutes. The country's authorities expect that this will greatly simplify the movement of tourists and business travelers between the largest cities in the Emirates.

In addition, the development of DWC should stimulate the emergence of new hotels, business centers, residential areas and logistics zones around Dubai World Central.

Read also: Charter or scheduled flights: what is the difference and which tickets are better to choose?

What does the closure of DXB mean for global aviation?

The closure of Dubai International Airport will be one of the largest transformations in the modern history of air transport.

DXB has remained a major transit hub for millions of passengers traveling between continents for decades. It was through Dubai that a significant part of global air traffic passed, and Emirates airline turned the city into one of the most important centers of international flights.

Now the UAE is actually building a new “aviation city” capable of receiving record flows of tourists in the coming decades. And if the project is fully implemented, DWC may not just replace DXB, but completely change the standards of international air transport.

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