The Al Maktoum International Airport will be the largest in the world having a capacity of handling up to 260 million passengers, Sheikh Mohammed said. Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum took to X, formerly Twitter, to announce that his government has approved the designs for the new passenger terminals at AI Maktoum International Airport worth $34.85 billion.

It will be five times the size of the current Dubai International Airport. He added that in the coming 10 years, all the operations of the Dubai International Airport will be transferred to Al Maktoum. With five parallel runways, the airport will accommodate 400 terminal gates.

The leader claimed that “new aviation technologies will be employed for the first time in the aviation sector”. “Dubai will be the world’s airport, its port, its urban hub, and its new global center,” he added as Dubai builds an entire city around the airport in Dubai South.

“Demand for housing for a million people will follow. It will host the world’s leading companies in the logistics and air transport sectors. We are building a new project for future generations, ensuring continuous and stable development for our children and their children in turn. Dubai will be the world’s airport, its port, its urban hub, and its new global center, ” he posted.

The airport is set to become the new hub for Emirates, the leading carrier, and its budget counterpart, Flydubai, alongside all other airline partners linking Dubai with the rest of the world, Dubai state-owned airline Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum said.