There's an aviation museum in Sharjah, close to Dubai, which is hidden in among the high rises. The museum is actually the site of the first airport in the United Arab Emirates and was once a remote desert outpost.
Eight miles away, Dubai International Airport has just become the busiest international airport in the world.
Heathrow comfortably held the title for years. Atlanta still has more movements, but they're mainly regional. Beijing is pushing hard to keep pace. There's no doubt about it — Dubai is comfortably taking the lead of world airports and will keep growing for years to come.
While decisions over airport expansion at Heathrow (or other London airports) are consistently delayed, at Dubai they've expanded the existing airport, added the A380 concourse, opened a new airport and this week made the announcement that construction at Dubai World Central will continue as planned.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and namesake of the new airport, said that $32 billion will be spent on the new airport to make it the largest hub airport in the world.
It was also announced that the key to Al Maktoum's progress — when Emirates Airlines transfers its operations to the new airport — now has a target date of the mid-2020s. Today, the new airport has a single runway and passenger terminal, with a few early adopter airlines offering services, but it was always going to be the presence of Emirates that would unlock its potential.
When completed, Al Maktoum International Airport will accommodate up to 200 million passengers per year.
The two planned phases of construction will eventually accommodate up to 200 million passengers per year, and up to 100 Airbus A380 aircraft at any one time. Five runways and two new terminals will eventually be built. The first phase of construction, giving the airport a capacity of 120 million passengers, will be completed in six to eight years.
Can the airport — and Dubai — really justify such growth, especially with copycat hubs in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Istanbul tapping a similar customer base? Besides Emirates' huge order book for new aircraft, the new airport itself will give it the advantage it needs. Competitor airlines in Asia and Europe are limited by the capacity of their hubs (Heathrow is at 99 percent), whereas Dubai World Central will have plenty of future growth space.
Part of the appeal will also lie in the technology and design of the new Dubai airport's passenger experience. Terminals will be designed to offer short walking distances between flights (over half of Dubai's passengers are connecting to other flights), rapid transport with optimized drop-off points, comfortable lounges and retail offerings — all of the comforts expected by today's travelers.
"With limited options for further growth at Dubai International, we are taking that next step to securing our future by building a brand new airport that will not only create the capacity we will need in the coming decades, but also provide state of the art facilities that revolutionize the airport experience on an unprecedented scale," said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports and operator of Al Maktoum International.
According to the latest announcement, the new airport will contribute 28 percent to Dubai's GDP once expanded, and will support more than 300,000 jobs.
