Wikipedia

Al Maktoum International Airport

Not to be confused with Dubai International Airport.

Al Maktoum International Airport (IATA: DWC, ICAO: OMDW), also known as Dubai World Central,[3] is an international airport in Jebel Ali, 37 kilometres (23 mi) southwest of[2] Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that opened on 27 June 2010.[1] It is the main part of Dubai South, a planned residential, commercial and logistics complex.

Al Maktoum International Airport

مطار آل مكتوم الدولي

Maṭār Āl Maktūm al-Duwalī
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorDubai Airports Company
ServesEmirate of Dubai
LocationJebel Ali, United Arab Emirates
Opened27 June 2010; 14 years ago (2010-06-27)[1]
Hub forEmirates SkyCargo
Time zoneUAE Standard Time (UTC 04:00)
Elevation AMSL170 ft / 52 m
Coordinates24°53′17.80″N 55°9′37.36″E / 24.8882778°N 55.1603778°E / 24.8882778; 55.1603778
Websitewww.dubaiairports.ae
Map
DWC/OMDW is located in United Arab Emirates
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW
Location in the UAE
DWC/OMDW is located in Persian Gulf
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW (Persian Gulf)
DWC/OMDW is located in Indian Ocean
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW (Indian Ocean)
DWC/OMDW is located in Middle East
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW (Middle East)
DWC/OMDW is located in West and Central Asia
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW (West and Central Asia)
DWC/OMDW is located in Asia
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW (Asia)
DWC/OMDW is located in Eurasia
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW (Eurasia)
DWC/OMDW is located in Afro-Eurasia
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW
DWC/OMDW (Afro-Eurasia)
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
12/30 4,500 14,764 Asphalt
13/31 1,838 6,030 Asphalt
Sourceː UAE AIP[2]
Al Maktoum International Airport

When fully completed (originally expected 2027, now in 2030[4]), the airport will contain transport modes, logistics, and value-added services, including manufacturing and assembly, in a single free economic zone.[5][clarification needed] It will cover an area of 36,000 acres (14,400 ha). The airport has a projected annual capacity of 12 million tonnes (12,000,000 long tons; 13,000,000 short tons) of freight and between 160 million[6] and 260 million passengers.[7] As of 2021, only a handful of airlines operated passenger services out of Al Maktoum International Airport with a focus on freight activity.

Emirates plans to use the airport as its only hub once the first expansion is complete.[8] Dubai International Airport will be shut down once Al Maktoum Airport expansion will be completed.[9]

History

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Old model of the planned expansion, as of 2006

Construction

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The 4,500 m × 60 m (14,800 ft × 200 ft) runway was completed in 2007 after 600 days of construction with tests planned over the following six to eight months in order to fulfill its CAT III-C requirements.[10][11] Construction of the airport's cargo terminal, the Al Maktoum Airport Cargo Gateway, which cost around US$75 million, was 50% complete by the end of 2008.[12]

During the first phase of the project, the airport was planned to handle around 200,000 t (200,000 long tons; 220,000 short tons) of cargo per year, with the possibility of increasing to 800,000 t (790,000 long tons; 880,000 short tons).[12] The passenger terminal at this phase was designed to have a capacity of 5 million passengers per year.[13] It was planned to be the largest airport in the world in terms of freight handled, moving up to 12 million tonnes (12,000,000 long tons; 13,000,000 short tons) per year in 2013.[needs update][12]

The project was originally expected to be fully operational by 2017, although the 2007–2008 financial crisis subsequently postponed the completion of the complex to 2027. Previous working names for the airport complex have included "Jebel Ali International Airport", "Jebel Ali Airport City", and "Dubai World Central International Airport". The airport was eventually named the Al Maktoum International Airport after the House of Maktoum which rules the Emirate of Dubai.[14] The total cost of the airport has been estimated by the Dubai government to be $82 billion.[15]

Operations

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Al Maktoum International Airport opened on 24 June 2010 with one runway and only cargo flights.[1] The first flight into the airport occurred on 20 June 2010, when an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F landed after a flight from Hong Kong. The flight served as a test for various functions such as air traffic control, movement of aircraft on the ground, and security. According to Emirates, the flight was an "unmitigated success".[16]

On 24 February 2011, the airport was certified to handle passenger aircraft with up to 60 passengers.[17] The first passenger aircraft touched down on 28 February 2011, an Airbus A319CJ.[18] The airport officially opened for passenger flights on 26 October 2013 with Flynas and Wizz Air as the two carriers to operate from the airport.[19]

In the first quarter of 2014, 102,000 passengers went through the airport.[20] At the time of its opening, three cargo service airlines served Al Maktoum International Airport, including RUS Aviation, Skyline Air and Aerospace Consortium. Fifteen additional airlines then signed a contract to operate flights to the airport.[21]

Passenger numbers in the first half of 2016 totaled 410,278, up from 209,989 in the first half of 2015.[22] Low usage of the facility led to it being described as a white elephant.[23]

Expansion plans

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On 28 April 2024, Emirates announced that the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, had approved a major expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport with the construction of a new 128 billion AED ($34.85 billion USD) passenger terminal.[24] When complete, the airport is expected to be the largest in the world at roughly five times the size of the existing Dubai International Airport with capacity for up to 260 million passengers.[24] Plans call for the airport to include five parallel runways and 400 aircraft gates.[8] All Emirates and Flydubai operations are expected to be transferred to the new airport by 2030.[8]

Airlines and destinations

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Passenger

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The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter services to and from Al Maktoum International:[6]

AirlinesDestinations
Animawings Seasonal: Bucharest–Otopeni (begins 27 December 2024)[25]
azimuth Mineralnye Vody, Sochi
BeOnd Malé,[26] Zurich[27]
Berniq Airways Benghazi[28]
Centrum Air Tashkent[29]
Enter Air Seasonal: Katowice,[30] Poznań,[30] Warsaw–Chopin[30]
Eurowings Seasonal: Berlin, Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart (all begin 30 March 2025)[31]
flyadeal Riyadh[32]
FlyOne Seasonal: Chișinău[33]
Hunnu Air Ulaanbaatar[34]
Luxair Seasonal: Luxembourg[35]
Norwegian Air Shuttle Seasonal: Copenhagen (begins 12 December 2024),[36] Oslo (begins 15 December 2024),[37] Stockholm–Arlanda (begins 13 December 2024)[38]
Pobeda Makhachkala,[39] Moscow–Vnukovo
Red Wings Airlines Sochi
Rossiya Airlines Saint Petersburg,[40] Sochi
S7 Airlines Moscow–Domodedovo,[41] Novosibirsk[42]
SmartLynx Airlines Seasonal charter: Berlin,[43] Leipzig-Halle[44][45]
Smartwings Prague[46]
Transavia Lyon,[47] Marseille[47] Toulouse[47]
Ural Airlines Moscow–Domodedovo,[48] Sochi,[49] Yekaterinburg[48]
Utair Grozny,[50] Moscow–Vnukovo,[51] Surgut,[50] Tyumen[52]
Yemenia Aden, Mukalla[53]

Cargo

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AirlinesDestinations
Aerotranscargo[54][55] Fujairah, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Zhengzhou
Astral Aviation[56][57] Aktobe, Hong Kong, Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta
Atlas Air[58] Delhi
China Airlines Cargo[59] Amsterdam, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Frankfurt, Hanoi, Luxembourg, Prague, Taipei–Taoyuan
Emirates SkyCargo[60] Addis Ababa, Ahmedabad, Algiers, Amsterdam,[61] Auckland,[62] Barcelona, Bangkok–Suvarnabhumi, Bengaluru, Bogotá, Brussels, Cairo, Chicago–O'Hare, Dakar–Yoff, Dammam, Dhaka, Djibouti, Entebbe, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston–Intercontinental, Jakarta–Soekarno-Hatta, Johannesburg–O.R. Tambo, Khartoum, Lagos, Liège, Lilongwe, London–Heathrow, London–Stansted,[63] Maastricht/Aachen, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan–Malpensa, Mumbai, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta, New York–JFK, Ouagadougou, Phnom Penh, Quito, Riyadh, Shanghai–Pudong, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei–Taoyuan, Tokyo–Narita, Zaragoza
Turkish Cargo[64] Hyderabad, Istanbul
Turkmenistan Airlines Cargo[65] Ashgabat

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Dubai World Central celebrates inauguration of Al Maktoum International Airport". Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b "United Arab Emirates AIP". Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
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  6. ^ a b "Al Maktoum International Airport". dwc.ae. Dubai World Central. Archived from the original on 21 November 2013.
  7. ^ Flottau, Jens; Osborne, Tony (17 September 2014). "First Phase Of Dubai World Central To Be Ready In Six To Eight Years". Aviation Week.
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  9. ^ Kamel, Deena (29 April 2024). "Dubai to scrap dual airport operations once move to mega-hub at Al Maktoum is complete". The National. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
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  29. ^ Liu, Jim (30 September 2024). "Centrum Air 4Q24 Dubai / Guangzhou Service Launch". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  30. ^ a b c Liu, Jim (7 December 2022). "Enter AIR NW22 DUBAI OPERATIONS". Aeroroutes.
  31. ^ Nowack, Timo (19 May 2024). "Eurowings muss in Dubai im nächsten Jahr auch am Al Maktoum Airport landen".
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  33. ^ "Fly One NS24 Dubai Service Changes". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  34. ^ "Hunnu Air Adds Ulaanbaatar – Dubai Service From Dec 2023". AeroRoutes. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  35. ^ "Luxair July – Oct 2023 737 MAX Network – 09APR23". Aeroroutes.
  36. ^ "Norwegian tilbage med Dubai-rute fra København". 21 May 2024.
  37. ^ "NORWEGIAN NW24 OSLO – MENA NETWORK ADDITIONS". aeroroutes.com. 21 May 2024.
  38. ^ "Norwegian NW24 Network Expansion Summary – 23MAY24". 24 May 2024.
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  40. ^ "Aeroflot Expands Dubai al Maktoum Service in NW23". AeroRoutes. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
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  42. ^ "S7 Airlines NW23 Novosibirsk – Dubai Service Changes". AeroRoutes. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  43. ^ Liu, Jim (11 October 2022). "SMARTLYNX ADDS BERLIN – DUBAI SERVICE FROM OCT 2022". Aeroroutes.
  44. ^ "FTI® - Beim Reiseveranstalter Urlaub & Reisen günstig buchen". www.fti.de.
  45. ^ "Smartlynx Airlines NW23 Leipzig/Halle Operations". Aeroroutes. 9 October 2023.
  46. ^ "Češi budou v Dubaji přistávat nově jinde. Smartwings musí lety odklonit na okraj města". Smartwings. 8 February 2024.
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  48. ^ a b ""Уральские авиалинии" планируют возобновить несколько рейсов в страны Азии". TACC. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  49. ^ "Аэропорт Сочи расширяет международную программу". НИА-Кубань. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  50. ^ a b "Utair Dubai Sep/Oct 2023 Service Changes". AeroRoutes. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  51. ^ Liu, Jim (22 October 2024). "Utair Adds Moscow – Dubai Service in NW24". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  52. ^ "Utair will connect Tyumen with Dubai". CJSC Analysis, Consulting and Marketing. AK&M Information Agency. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  53. ^ "Yemenia Adds Dubai al Maktoum Service From mid-July 2024". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  54. ^ "Flight History of ER-BAM (Aerotranscargo–F5/ATG)-21 September 2023". FlightAware.
  55. ^ "ATC Inaugural flight to DWC Airport". Aerotranscargo (Press release). 20 August 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  56. ^ "EX – DUBAI SCHEDULE". Astral Aviation. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  57. ^ "ASTRAL AVIATION AND SPICEXPRESS ENTER INTO A PIONEERING INTERLINE AGREEMENT FOR SEAMLESS CARGO CONNECTIONS ACROSS INDIA, AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST". Astral Aviation (Press release). 4 February 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  58. ^ "Atlas Air Flight Schedule". Atlas Air. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  59. ^ "China Airlines Cargo Moves Mid-East Operation to Dubai Al Maktoum from mid-April 2015". Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  60. ^ eskycargo.emirates.com - Schedules retrieved 6 November 2021
  61. ^ "ROUTE NETWORK 9 June 2020 Management Summary" (PDF). Emirates SkyCargo. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
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  63. ^ "Route Network (June 2024)". Emirates SkyCargo. June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  64. ^ turkishcargo.com - Flight Schedule retrieved 6 September 2020
  65. ^ "Flight History of EZ-F428 (Turkmenistan Airlines)-11 May 2023". FlightAware.
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