History was made Oct. 29 when the first aircraft carrying passengers landed at Dubai's new Al Maktoum International Airport — projected to one day be the world's largest.

The Wizz Air flight — an Airbus A320 arriving from Budapest — came in a week when the airport added two new airline carriers to its roster and finally opened its passenger terminal after a series of delays.

Since its opening in 2010, Al Maktoum has operated purely for cargo flights. Only one of the five planned runways is currently in operation, but the opening of the new passenger terminal (with a capacity for 5 million passengers per year) marks a major milestone in the transition of aviation infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai International Airport currently ranks as the world's fourth busiest airport and is the major hub of Emirates Airline, having recently opened the new "A380 Concourse" to help it cope with the amount demand being experienced. Yet Dubai World Central, as Al Maktoum is also known, expects Emirates to move all operations there eventually, with three passenger terminals planned.

Over the coming years, the transition will intensify, with hotels, shopping malls, maintenance facilities, executive and VIP terminals, more runways, and a dedicated high-speed rail link to Dubai International all set for construction.

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Dubai World Central
A strategic initiative of the Government of Dubai, Dubai World Central is a master-planned aerotropolis propelling the emirate's economy into the future.


With the proposed grandeur of this new mega-airport, the speculations over where early passenger services will come from is quite a contrast to the unfaltering confidence expressed in its future. Aside from Wizz Air's low-cost links to Eastern Europe, other airlines planning to offer services in November include Condor, Qatar Airways, Jazeera Airways — and the most recently announced Gulf Air, which will begin a daily link to its hub at Bahrain.

Paul Griffiths, Dubai Airports CEO, told Gulf News he was convinced there would be announcements on new airlines flying from the airport before the end of the year. "We are very close to signing some deals with more carriers," he said.

The new airport is clearly offering enough capacity for airlines to begin services to the high-demand region. For some, the location of the airport is much more convenient to modern Dubai than the existing airport. But few are willing to be the first to jump ship and leave the comfort of Dubai International, with its established facilities and plentiful passengers.

Incentives are already being offered to airlines to move their operations from Dubai International, and one option would be to reduce the services of some carriers at the current airport next year when one of its two runways is closed for extended maintenance.

In particular, Al Maktoum is suited to low-cost and charter carriers that don’t rely on a hub network. Wizz Air sees a growth opportunity before the big boys arrive and could start linking the new airport with India.

Nevertheless, a lot of opportunities now exist at this blank canvas of an airport, and the fact remains that it will eventually replace Dubai International and will be among the largest and busiest in the world.