Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP) received proposals on 31 March from contractors for three packages covering superstructure works for the first phase of the expansion of Al-Maktoum International airport.

MEED understands that the selected contractor will undertake superstructure works on three packages:

• West Terminal and concourse one
• Concourse two
• Concourse three

Construction on these packages began in November last year, when DAEP formally selected a contractor to deliver the substructure works.

According to an official description on DAEP’s website, the expanded airport’s West Terminal will be a seven-level, 800,000-square-metre facility with an annual capacity of 45 million passengers.

It will be the second of three terminals at Al-Maktoum International airport, linked to the airside by a 14-station automated people-mover (APM) system.

In August last year, MEED exclusively reported that DAEP had received bids from firms to build the APM at the airport.

The system will run under the apron of the entire airfield and the airport’s terminals. It will consist of several tracks, taking passengers from the terminals to the concourses.Four underground stations will be built as part of the first phase. The overall plan includes 14 stations across the airport.

The airport’s construction is planned to be undertaken in three phases. The airport will cover an area of 70 square kilometres (sq km) south of Dubai and will have five parallel runways, five terminal buildings and 400 aircraft gates.

It will be five times the size of the existing Dubai International airport and will have the world’s largest passenger-handling capacity of 260 million passengers a year. For cargo, it will have the capacity to handle 12 million tonnes a year.

Construction progress

Construction on the first phase has already begun. In May last year, MEED exclusively reported that DAEP had awarded a AED1bn ($272m) deal to UAE firm Binladin Contracting Group to construct the second runway at the airport. The enabling works on the terminal are also ongoing and are being undertaken by Abu Dhabi-based Tristar E&C.

Construction on the project’s first phase is expected to be completed by 2032.The government approved the updated designs and timelines for its largest construction project in April 2024.In a statement, the authorities said the plan is for all operations from Dubai International airport to be transferred to Al-Maktoum International within 10 years.

The statement added that the project will create housing demand for 1 million people around the airport.

In September 2024, MEED exclusively reported that a team comprising Austria’s Coop Himmelb(l)au and Lebanon’s Dar Al-Handasah had been confirmed as the lead masterplanning and design consultants on the expansion of Al-Maktoum airport.

Project history

The expansion of Al-Maktoum International, also known as Dubai World Central (DWC), is a long-standing project. It was officially launched in 2014, with a different design from the one approved in April 2024. At that time, it involved building the biggest airport in the world by 2050, with the capacity to handle 255 million passengers a year.

An initial phase, due to be completed in 2030, involved increasing the airport’s capacity to 130 million passengers a year. The development was to cover an area of 56 sq km.Progress on the project slipped as the region grappled with the impact of lower oil prices and Dubai focused on developing the Expo 2020 site. Tendering for work on the project then stalled with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020.