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Dubai Approves Designs for Al Maktoum Airport Terminal: What the $35 Billion Plan Means

Dubai’s AED 128 billion Al Maktoum International Airport terminal plan targets 260 million passengers annually at full capacity, but that figure is not current throughput.
From TheFinanceBase Team2 min to read

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Dubai approved designs for a new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport, also known as Dubai World Central (DWC), on 28 April 2024. The official announcement put the construction cost at AED 128 billion—approximately $35 billion—and described a planned ultimate capacity of 260 million passengers a year. Those are project targets, not the airport’s current capacity or proof that construction is complete.

What did Dubai approve?

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum approved designs for a new passenger terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport on 28 April 2024. The announcement said construction would begin and gave the cost as AED 128 billion. The often-used $35 billion figure is an approximate US-dollar equivalent of that announced amount, not a separate official dollar budget. Dubai Department of Finance announcement

This is an expansion at Al Maktoum International Airport, also called Dubai World Central (DWC), rather than a new airport site. The approval concerns the terminal’s designs and construction; it does not establish a date when the full planned airport will open or when operations will move from Dubai International Airport (DXB).

How large is the planned airport?

The headline figure of 260 million refers to the planned ultimate annual passenger capacity. Dubai Airports describes an interim stage of 150 million passengers annually over the next decade, followed by the eventual 260-million capacity. It also gives an ultimate cargo target of 12 million tonnes a year. These are planned capacities, not reported current passenger or cargo volumes. Dubai Airports: Al Maktoum International

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Planned capacity and configuration

Measure Plan What it means
Passengers 150 million annually in an interim stage over the next decade; 260 million annually at ultimate capacity Dubai Airports’ project targets, not current throughput. Source
Cargo 12 million tonnes annually at ultimate capacity Planned annual cargo capacity. Source
Runways Five in the ultimate configuration A feature of the full airport development plan, not a statement that all five are operational now. Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects
Aircraft stands 400 active and inactive stands in the ultimate configuration Planned stands across the full development. Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects

What is the latest construction status?

In an update published on 15 June 2026, Dubai Media Office said construction packages under execution exceeded AED 13 billion. That is the value of packages then being executed; it is not the total project cost and does not mean the airport or its planned capacity is complete. The same update described the completed airport’s target as more than 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo annually. Dubai Media Office update

What the $35 billion figure does—and does not—tell you

For a personal-finance reader, the key distinction is between the headline conversion and the figure actually announced. Dubai’s 2024 announcement stated AED 128 billion as the construction cost of the new passenger terminal; $35 billion is an approximate conversion used to express that sum in US dollars. The separate AED 13 billion-plus figure reported in 2026 concerns construction packages under execution at that time, not a revised total budget.

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The project announcements establish planned capacity and a dated construction-progress marker. They do not establish a final opening date, a fixed date for moving flights from DXB, or completion of the ultimate passenger and cargo targets.

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