DWC sets second runway opening for 2027

Dubai World Central will open its second runway by the end of 2027, marking the next major infrastructure step in Dubai’s plan to shift aviation growth to Al Maktoum International Airport and build capacity for as many as 260 million passengers a year.

Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths confirmed the timetable during an international media briefing, saying development of DWC was proceeding at full speed. The first major expansion phase is scheduled to come on stream in the early 2030s and is designed to give the airport annual capacity for about 150 million passengers.

The additional runway will form part of a much larger airfield ultimately comprising five parallel runways. Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects says the completed system is intended to permit four simultaneous aircraft approaches and handle more than one million aircraft movements annually, supporting an airport planned on a scale well beyond the current Dubai International Airport.

Griffiths said the DWC expansion is essential because Dubai International, or DXB, is approaching the practical limit of its long-term capacity. DXB can accommodate about 115 million passengers annually, while Dubai’s aviation planners expect continued growth in both transfer traffic and passengers travelling directly to and from the emirate.

The 2027 runway milestone will arrive before the main passenger infrastructure is fully commissioned. The wider programme includes new terminals, concourses, baggage systems, automated passenger transport and road and rail connections intended to support the staged transfer of airline operations from DXB.

flydubai is expected to be among the first carriers to expand its presence at DWC. Griffiths said around five or six of the airline’s aircraft could move there from 2027, allowing operations to grow progressively while construction continues across the airport site.

Dubai’s government approved the AED128 billion expansion programme in April 2024. The plan covers new passenger facilities and major airfield works, with the airport eventually designed to accommodate up to 260 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo annually. The final configuration is also planned to include hundreds of aircraft contact stands and extensive support facilities.

Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects describes Runway 2 as a 4.5-kilometre strip to be built parallel to the existing runway, with sufficient separation for future airfield infrastructure. The runway is part of the first development stages alongside additional terminal and concourse works, ground service roads and an underground baggage-handling system.

The airport’s staged expansion is intended to avoid a single abrupt transfer of operations. Dubai Airports has said capacity will be added in phases as demand rises, while DXB continues to serve as the emirate’s principal passenger gateway during the transition.

DWC already handles passenger, cargo, charter and general aviation operations. Passenger services began there in 2013 after cargo operations started in 2010. Its existing passenger terminal was later expanded to provide annual capacity of about 26 million passengers.

The new airport is being developed within Dubai South, where planners envisage aviation, logistics, residential and commercial activity growing around the hub. The master plan includes connections to Dubai Metro and other transport networks, alongside an automated people mover linking passenger facilities within the airport.

Once the main expansion is operational, DWC is expected to provide room for growth beyond DXB’s physical constraints. The first large-scale phase is planned to support roughly 150 million passengers a year, before later construction lifts capacity towards the 260 million target.

The runway announcement also comes as Dubai Airports manages a recovery in passenger traffic after regional disruptions earlier this year. Griffiths said traffic had improved sharply from its March low and that capacity and passenger volumes were moving back towards earlier levels, while the airport operator maintained its longer-term development programme.