Dubai Plans Expansion To Build Largest Airport In The World

People say that everything is big in Texas, but it turns out the state has major competition from Dubai in the UAE. First, they built a major modern city in the desert; then they built the tallest buildings and now they are planning the world’s largest airport. What it dubbed Dubai’s “second airport” could handle as many as 250 million passengers annually by 2050. Read on to find out more about this major expansion and its impact on the environment.

Dubai International Airport to be expanded to largest in the world

Currently, Dubai International Airport (DXB) is the busiest international airport in the world, but it’s set to get even busier. The city is planning a $1.6 to $2.8 billion expansion over the next five to seven years.

Reportedly, Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths unveiled the plans last week to expand DXB to handle up to 120 million passengers per year within the next 15 years. Once the airport hits peak capacity, developers claim that Dubai’s second airport, Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) will be “the world’s largest airport.”

While DWC currently handles 1.6 million passengers annually, this could rise to more than 250 million by the year 2050. Speak to Bloomberg Television, Griffiths said:

We have to accelerate our efforts to improve the capacity of the existing airport in the short term, which will cover us for the next 10 to 15 years.

Then, we have to have a real push to develop the big one.

Meanwhile, DXB is already one of the largest airports in the world and it handled 41.6 million passengers in the first half of this year. This surpassed 2019 during the same period, and experts say the numbers are set to reach 85 million, after a rebound in air traffic from China.

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What will the expanded airport offer?

The overhaul of DXB will add additional check-in desks and seating, additional lounges and new security scanners. Meanwhile, restaurants and food hubs will be concentrated in one area of each terminal.

Meanwhile, developers are drafting plans to make it the largest airport in the world. According to local reports, the first stage of the project will expand the airport’s capacity to welcome around 130 million passengers a year. Dubai South has already teased the project on social media, writing:

#DubaiSouth will be home to the world’s largest airport once complete, and a multi-modal transport infrastructure linking air, land, and sea.

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— Dubai South (@Dubai_South) August 30, 2023

What about the impact on the environment?

Reportedly, in 2019, DXB welcomed 83 million passengers who emitted 16.65 million metric tons of CO2. This was the highest total of any airport around the world.

While many travelers are reducing their carbon footprint by changing over to train travel instead of flying, Dubai will be doing the opposite and majorly increasing its carbon footprint.